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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11440-0.txt b/11440-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4d10fd --- /dev/null +++ b/11440-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2592 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11440 *** + +TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES + +Lord Dunsany + + + +CONTENTS + +The Last Dream Of Bwona Khubla +How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant In Otford-under-the-Wold +The Prayer Of Boob Aheera +East And West +A Pretty Quarrel +How The Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning +The Gift Of The Gods +The Sack Of Emeralds +The Old Brown Coat +An Archive Of The Older Mysteries +A City Of Wonder + Beyond the Fields We Know + Publisher's Note + First Tale: Idle Days on the Yann + Second Tale: A Shop In Go-By Street + Third Tale: The Avenger Of Perdóndaris + +[Note that the tale "Idle Days on the Yann" also appears in the +collection "A Dreamer's Tales".] + + + + +THE LAST DREAM OF BWONA KHUBLA + +From steaming lowlands down by the equator, where monstrous orchids +blow, where beetles big as mice sit on the tent-ropes, and fireflies +glide about by night like little moving stars, the travelers went +three days through forests of cactus till they came to the open plains +where the oryx are. + +And glad they were when they came to the water-hole, where only one +white man had gone before, which the natives know as the camp of Bwona +Khubla, and found the water there. + +It lies three days from the nearest other water, and when Bwona Khubla +had gone there three years ago, what with malaria with which he was +shaking all over, and what with disgust at finding the water-hole dry, +he had decided to die there, and in that part of the world such +decisions are always fatal. In any case he was overdue to die, but +hitherto his amazing resolution, and that terrible strength of +character that so astounded his porters, had kept him alive and moved +his safari on. + +He had had a name no doubt, some common name such as hangs as likely +as not over scores of shops in London; but that had gone long ago, and +nothing identified his memory now to distinguish it from the memories +of all the other dead but "Bwona Khubla," the name the Kikuyus gave +him. + +There is not doubt that he was a fearful man, a man that was dreaded +still for his personal force when his arm was no longer able to lift +the kiboko, when all his men knew he was dying, and to this day though +he is dead. + +Though his temper was embittered by malaria and the equatorial sun, +nothing impaired his will, which remained a compulsive force to the +very last, impressing itself upon all, and after the last, from what +the Kikuyus say. The country must have had powerful laws that drove +Bwona Khubla out, whatever country it was. + +On the morning of the day that they were to come to the camp of Bwona +Khubla all the porters came to the travelers' tents asking for dow. +Dow is the white man's medicine, that cures all evils; the nastier it +tastes, the better it is. They wanted down this morning to keep away +devils, for they were near the place where Bwona Khubla died. + +The travelers gave them quinine. + +By sunset the came to Campini Bwona Khubla and found water there. Had +they not found water many of them must have died, yet none felt any +gratitude to the place, it seemed too ominous, too full of doom, too +much harassed almost by unseen, irresistible things. + +And all the natives came again for dow as soon as the tents were +pitched, to protect them from the last dreams of Bwona Khubla, which +they say had stayed behind when the last safari left taking Bwona +Khubla's body back to the edge of civilization to show to the white +men there that they had not killed him, for the white men might not +know that they durst not kill Bwona Khubla. + +And the travelers gave them more quinine, so much being bad for the +nerves, and that night by the camp-fires there was no pleasant talk; +all talking at once of meat they had eaten and cattle that each one +owned, but a gloomy silence hung by every fire and the little canvas +shelters. They told the white men that Bwona Khubla's city, of which +he had thought at the last (and where the natives believed he was once +a king), of which he had raved till the loneliness rang with his +raving, had settled down all about them; and they were afraid, for it +was so strange a city, and wanted more dow. And the two travelers +gave them more quinine, for they saw real fear in their faces, and +knew they might run away and leave them alone in that place, that +they, too, had come to fear with an almost equal dread, though they +knew not why. And as the night wore on their feeling of boding +deepened, although they had shared three bottles or so of champagne +that they meant to keep for days when they killed a lion. + +This is the story that each of those two men tell, and which their +porters corroborate, but then a Kikuyu will always say whatever he +thinks is expected of him. + +The travelers were both in bed and trying to sleep but not able to do +so because of an ominous feeling. That mournfullest of all the cries +of the wild, the hyæna like a damned soul lamenting, strangely enough +had ceased. The night wore on to the hour when Bwona Khubla had died +three or four years ago, dreaming and raving of "his city"; and in the +hush a sound softly arose, like a wind at first, then like the roar of +beasts, then unmistakably the sound of motors--motors and motor +busses. + +And then they saw, clearly and unmistakably they say, in that lonely +desolation where the equator comes up out of the forest and climbs +over jagged hills,--they say they saw London. + +There could have been no moon that night, but they say there was a +multitude of stars. Mists had come rolling up at evening about the +pinnacles of unexplored red peaks that clustered round the camp. But +they say the mist must have cleared later on; at any rate they swear +they could see London, see it and hear the roar of it. Both say they +saw it not as they knew it at all, not debased by hundreds of +thousands of lying advertisements, but transfigured, all its houses +magnificent, its chimneys rising grandly into pinnacles, its vast +squares full of the most gorgeous trees, transfigured and yet London. + +Its windows were warm and happy, shining at night, the lamps in their +long rows welcomed you, the public-houses were gracious jovial places; +yet it was London. + +They could smell the smells of London, hear London songs, and yet it +was never the London that they knew; it was as though they had looked +on some strange woman's face with the eyes of her lover. For of all +the towns of the earth or cities of song; of all the spots there be, +unhallowed or hallowed, it seemed to those two men then that the city +they saw was of all places the most to be desired by far. They say a +barrel organ played quite near them, they say a coster was singing, +they admit that he was singing out of tune, they admit a cockney +accent, and yet they say that that song had in it something that no +earthly song had ever had before, and both men say that they would +have wept but that there was a feeling about their heartstrings that +was far too deep for tears. They believe that the longing of this +masterful man, that was able to rule a safari by raising a hand, had +been so strong at the last that it had impressed itself deeply upon +nature and had caused a mirage that may not fade wholly away, perhaps +for several years. + +I tried to establish by questions the truth or reverse of this story, +but the two men's tempers had been so spoiled by Africa that they were +not up to cross-examination. They would not even say if their +camp-fires were still burning. They say that they saw the London +lights all round them from eleven o'clock till midnight, they could +hear London voices and the sound of the traffic clearly, and over +all, a little misty perhaps, but unmistakably London, arose the great +metropolis. + +After midnight London quivered a little and grew more indistinct, the +sound of the traffic began to dwindle away, voices seemed farther off, +ceased altogether, and all was quiet once more where the mirage +shimmered and faded, and a bull rhinoceros coming down through the +stillness snorted, and watered at the Carlton Club. + + + + +HOW THE OFFICE OF POSTMAN FELL VACANT IN OTFORD-UNDER-THE-WOLD + +The duties of postman at Otford-under-the-Wold carried Amuel Sleggins +farther afield than the village, farther afield than the last house in +the lane, right up to the big bare wold and the house where no one +went, no one that is but the three grim men that dwelt there and the +secretive wife of one, and, once a year when the queer green letter +came, Amuel Sleggins the postman. + +The green letter always came just as the leaves were turning, +addressed to the eldest of the three grim men, with a wonderful +Chinese stamp and the Otford post-mark, and Amuel Sleggins carried it +up to the house. + +He was not afraid to go, for he always took the letter, had done so +for seven years, yet whenever summer began to draw to a close, Amuel +Sleggins was ill at ease, and if there was a touch of autumn about +shivered unduly so that all folk wondered. + +And then one day a wind would blow from the East, and the wild geese +would appear, having left the sea, flying high and crying strangely, +and pass till they were no more than a thin black line in the sky like +a magical stick flung up by a doer of magic, twisting and twirling +away; and the leaves would turn on the trees and the mists be white on +the marshes and the sun set large and red and autumn would step down +quietly that night from the wold; and the next day the strange green +letter would come from China. + +His fear of the three grim men and that secretive woman and their +lonely, secluded house, or else the cadaverous cold of the dying +season, rather braced Amuel when the time was come and he would step +out bolder upon the day that he feared than he had perhaps for weeks. +He longed on that day for a letter for the last house in the lane, +there he would dally and talk awhile and look on church-going faces +before his last tramp over the lonely wold to end at the dreaded door +of the queer grey house called wold-hut. + +When he came to the door of wold-hut he would give the postman's knock +as though he came on ordinary rounds to a house of every day, although +no path led up to it, although the skins of weasels hung thickly from +upper windows. + +And scarcely had his postman's knock rung through the dark of the +house when the eldest of the three grim men would always run to the +door. O, what a face had he. There was more slyness in it than ever +his beard could hide. He would put out a gristly hand; and into it +Amuel Sleggins would put the letter from China, and rejoice that his +duty was done, and would turn and stride away. And the fields lit up +before him, but, ominous, eager and low murmuring arose in the +wold-hut. + +For seven years this was so and no harm had come to Sleggins, seven +times he had gone to wold-hut and as often come safely away; and then +he needs must marry. Perhaps because she was young, perhaps because +she was fair or because she had shapely ankles as she came one day +through the marshes among the milkmaid flowers shoeless in spring. +Less things than these have brought men to their ends and been the +nooses with which Fate snared them running. With marriage curiosity +entered his house, and one day as they walked with evening through the +meadows, one summer evening, she asked him of wold-hut where he only +went, and what the folks were like that no one else had seen. All this +he told her; and then she asked him of the green letter from China, +that came with autumn, and what the letter contained. He read to her +all the rules of the Inland Revenue, he told her he did not know, that +it was not right that he should know, he lectured her on the sin of +inquisitiveness, he quoted Parson, and in the end she said that she +must know. They argued concerning this for many days, days of the +ending of summer, of shortening evenings, and as they argued autumn +grew nearer and nearer and the green letter from China. + +And at last he promised that when the green letter came he would take +it as usual to the lonely house and then hide somewhere near and creep +to the window at nightfall and hear what the grim folk said; perhaps +they might read aloud the letter from China. And before he had time +to repent of that promise a cold wind came one night and the woods +turned golden, the plover went in bands at evening over the marshes, +the year had turned, and there came the letter from China. Never +before had Amuel felt such misgivings as he went his postman's rounds, +never before had he so much feared the day that took him up to the +wold and the lonely house, while snug by the fire his wife looked +pleasurably forward to curiosity's gratification and hoped to have +news ere nightfall that all the gossips of the village would envy. +One consolation only had Amuel as he set out with a shiver, there was +a letter that day for the last house in the lane. Long did he tarry +there to look at their cheery faces, to hear the sound of their +laughter--you did not hear laughter in wold-hut--and when the last +topic had been utterly talked out and no excuse for lingering remained +he heaved a heavy sigh and plodded grimly away and so came late to +wold-hut. + +He gave his postman's knock on the shut oak door, heard it reverberate +through the silent house, saw the grim elder man and his gristly hand, +gave up the green letter from China, and strode away. There is a clump +of trees growing all alone in the wold, desolate, mournful, by day, by +night full of ill omen, far off from all other trees as wold-hut from +other houses. Near it stands wold-hut. Not today did Amuel stride +briskly on with all the new winds of autumn blowing cheerily past him +till he saw the village before him and broke into song; but as soon as +he was out of sight of the house he turned and stooping behind a fold +of the ground ran back to the desolate wood. There he waited watching +the evil house, just too far to hear voices. The sun was low already. +He chose the window at which he meant to eavesdrop, a little barred +one at the back, close to the ground. And then the pigeons came in; +for a great distance there was no other wood, so numbers shelter +there, though the clump is small and of so evil a look (if they notice +that); the first one frightened Amuel, he felt that it might be a +spirit escaped from torture in some dim parlour of the house that he +watched, his nerves were strained and he feared foolish fears. Then +he grew used to them and the sun set then and the aspect of everything +altered and he felt strange fears again. Behind him was a hollow in +the wold, he watched it darkening; and before him he saw the house +through the trunks of the trees. He waited for them to light their +lamps so that they could not see, when he would steal up softly and +crouch by the little back window. But though every bird was home, +though the night grew chilly as tombs, though a star was out, still +there shone no yellow light from any window. Amuel waited and +shuddered. He did not dare to move till they lit their lamps, they +might be watching. The damp and the cold so strangely affected him +that autumn evening and the remnants of sunset, the stars and the wold +and the whole vault of the sky seemed like a hall that they had +prepared for Fear. He began to feel a dread of prodigious things, and +still no light shone in the evil house. It grew so dark that he +decided to move and make his way to the window in spite of the +stillness and though the house was dark. He rose and while standing +arrested by pains that cramped his limbs, he heard the door swing open +on the far side of the house. He had just time to hide behind the +trunk of a pine when the three grim men approached him and the woman +hobbled behind. Right to the ominous clump of trees they came as +though they loved their blackness, passed through within a yard or two +of the postman and squatted down on their haunches in a ring in the +hollow behind the trees. They lit a fire in the hollow and laid a kid +on the fire and by the light of it Amuel saw brought forth from an +untanned pouch the letter that came from China. The elder opened it +with his gristly hand and intoning words that Amuel did not know, drew +out from it a green powder and sprinkled it on the fire. At once a +flame arose and a wonderful savour, the flames rose higher and +flickered turning the trees all green; and Amuel saw the gods coming +to snuff the savour. While the three grim men prostrated themselves by +their fire, and the horrible woman that was the spouse of one, he saw +the gods coming gauntly over the wold, beheld the gods of Old England +hungrily snuffing the savour, Odin, Balder, and Thor, the gods of the +ancient people, beheld them eye to eye clear and close in the +twilight, and the office of postman fell vacant in +Otford-under-the-Wold. + + + + +THE PRAYER OF BOOB AHEERA + +In the harbour, between the liner and the palms, as the huge ship's +passengers came up from dinner, at moonrise, each in his canoe, Ali +Kareeb Ahash and Boob Aheera passed within knife thrust. + +So urgent was the purpose of Ali Kareeb Ahash that he did not lean +over as his enemy slid by, did not tarry then to settle that long +account; but that Boob Aheera made no attempt to reach him was a +source of wonder to Ali. He pondered it till the liner's electric +lights shone far away behind him with one blaze and the canoe was near +to his destination, and pondered it in vain, for all that the eastern +subtlety of his mind was able to tell him clearly was that it was not +like Boob Aheera to pass him like that. + +That Boob Aheera could have dared to lay such a cause as his before +the Diamond Idol Ali had not conceived, yet as he drew near to the +golden shrine in the palms, that none that come by the great ships +ever found, he began to see more clearly in his mind that this was +where Boob had gone on that hot night. And when he beached his canoe +his fears departed, giving place to the resignation with which he +always viewed Destiny; for there on the white sea sand were the tracks +of another canoe, the edges all fresh and ragged. Boob Aheera had +been before him. Ali did not blame himself for being late, the thing +had been planned before the beginning of time, by gods that knew their +business; only his hate of Boob Aheera increased, his enemy against +whom he had come to pray. And the more his hate increased the more +clearly he saw him, until nothing else could be seen by the eye of his +mind but the dark lean figure, the little lean legs, the grey beard +and neat loin-cloth of Boob Aheera, his enemy. + +That the Diamond Idol should have granted the prayers of such a one he +did not as yet imagine, he hated him merely for his presumptuousness +in approaching the shrine at all, for approaching it before him whose +cause was righteous, for many an old past wrong, but most of all for +the expression of his face and the general look of the man as he has +swept by in his canoe with his double paddle going in the moonlight. + +Ali pushed through the steaming vegetation. The place smelt of +orchids. There is no track to the shrine though many go. If there +were a track the white man would one day find it, and parties would +row to see it whenever a liner came in; and photographs would appear +in weekly papers with accounts of it underneath by men who had never +left London, and all the mystery would be gone away and there would be +nothing novel in this story. + +Ali had scarcely gone a hundred yards through cactus and creeper +underneath the palms when he came to the golden shrine that nothing +guards except the deeps of the forest, and found the Diamond Idol. The +Diamond Idol is five inches high and its base a good inch square, and +it has a greater lustre than those diamonds that Mr. Moses bought last +year for his wife, when he offered her an earldom or the diamonds, and +Jael his wife had answered, "Buy the diamonds and be just plain Mr. +Fortescue." + +Purer than those was its luster and carved as they carve not in +Europe, and the men thereby are poor and held to be fearless--yet they +do not sell that idol. And I may say here that if any one of my +readers should ever come by ship to the winding harbour where the +forts of the Portuguese crumble in infinite greenery, where the baobab +stands like a corpse here and there in the palms, if he goes ashore +where no one has any business to go, and where no one so far as I know +has gone from a liner before (though it's little more than a mile or +so from the pier), and if he finds a golden shrine, which is near +enough to the shore, and a five-inch diamond in it carved in the shape +of a god, it is better to leave it alone and get back safe to the ship +than to sell that diamond idol for any price in the world. + +Ali Kareeb Ahash went into the golden shrine, and when he raised his +head from the seven obeisances that are the due of the idol, behold! +it glowed with such a lustre as only it wears after answering recent +prayer. No native of those parts mistakes the tone of the idol, they +know its varying shades as a tracker knows blood; the moon was +streaming in through the open door and Ali saw it clearly. + +No one had been that night but Boob Aheera. + +The fury of Ali rose and surged to his heart, he clutched his knife +till the hilt of it bruised his hand, yet he did not utter the prayer +that he had made ready about Boob Aheera's liver, for he saw that Boob +Aheera's prayers were acceptable to the idol and knew that divine +protection was over his enemy. + +What Boob Aheera's prayer was he did not know, but he went back to the +beach as fast as one can go through cacti and creepers that climb to +the tops of the palms; and as fast as his canoe could carry him he +went down the winding harbour, till the liner shone beside him as he +passed, and he heard the sound of its band rise up and die, and he +landed and came that night into Boob Aheera's hut. And there he +offered himself as his enemy's slave, and Boob Aheera's slave he is to +this day, and his master has protection from the idol. And Ali rows +to the liners and goes on board to sell rubies made of glass, and thin +suits for the tropics and ivory napkin rings, and Manchester kimonos, +and little lovely shells; and the passengers abuse him because of his +prices; and yet they should not, for all the money cheated by Ali +Kareeb Ahash goes to Boob Aheera, his master. + + + + +EAST AND WEST + +It was dead of night and midwinter. A frightful wind was bringing +sleet from the East. The long sere grasses were wailing. Two specks +of light appeared on the desolate plain; a man in a hansom cab was +driving alone in North China. + +Alone with the driver and the dejected horse. The driver wore a good +waterproof cape, and of course an oiled silk hat, but the man in the +cab wore nothing but evening dress. He did not have the glass door +down because the horse fell so frequently, the sleet had put his cigar +out and it was too cold to sleep; the two lamps flared in the wind. +By the uncertain light of a candle lamp that flickered inside the cab, +a Manchu shepherd that saw the vehicle pass, where he watched his +sheep on the plain in fear of the wolves, for the first time saw +evening dress. And though he saw if dimly, and what he saw was wet, +it was like a backward glance of a thousand years, for as his +civilization is so much older than ours they have presumably passed +through all that kind of thing. + +He watched it stoically, not wondering at a new thing, if indeed it be +new to China, meditated on it awhile in a manner strange to us, and +when he had added to his philosophy what little could be derived from +the sight of this hansom cab, returned to his contemplation of that +night's chances of wolves and to such occasional thoughts as he drew +at times for his comfort out of the legends of China, that have been +preserved for such uses. And on such a night their comfort was +greatly needed. He thought of the legend of a dragon-lady, more fair +than the flowers are, without an equal amongst daughters of men, +humanly lovely to look on although her sire was a dragon, yet one who +traced his descent from gods of the elder days, and so it was that she +went in all her ways divine, like the earliest ones of her race, who +were holier than the emperor. + +She had come down one day out of her little land, a grassy valley +hidden amongst the mountains; by the way of the mountain passes she +came down, and the rocks of the rugged pass rang like little bells +about her, as her bare feet went by, like silver bells to please her; +and the sound was like the sound of the dromedaries of a prince when +they come home at evening--their silver bells are ringing and the +village-folk are glad. She had come down to pick the enchanted poppy +that grew, and grows to this day--if only men might find it--in a +field at the feet of the mountains; if one should pick it happiness +would come to all yellow men, victory without fighting, good wages, +and ceaseless ease. She came down all fair from the mountains; and as +the legend pleasantly passed through his mind in the bitterest hour of +the night, which comes before dawn, two lights appeared and another +hansom went by. + +The man in the second cab was dressed the same as the first, he was +wetter than the first, for the sleet had fallen all night, but evening +dress is evening dress all the world over. The driver wore the same +oiled hat, the same waterproof cape as the other. And when the cab +had passed the darkness swirled back where the two small lamps had +been, and the slush poured into the wheel-tracks and nothing remained +but the speculations of the shepherd to tell that a hansom cab had +been in that part of China; presently even these ceased, and he was +back with the early legends again in contemplation of serener things. + +And the storm and the cold and the darkness made one last effort, and +shook the bones of that shepherd, and rattled the teeth in the head +that mused on the flowery fables, and suddenly it was morning. You +saw the outlines of the sheep all of a sudden, the shepherd counted +them, no wolf had come, you could see them all quite clearly. And in +the pale light of the earliest morning the third hansom appeared, with +its lamps still burning, looking ridiculous in the daylight. They came +out of the East with the sleet and were all going due westwards, and +the occupant of the third cab also wore evening dress. + +Calmly that Manchu shepherd, without curiosity, still less with +wonder, but as one who would see whatever life has to show him, stood +for four hours to see if another would come. The sleet and the East +wind continued. And at the end of four hours another came. The +driver was urging it on as fast as he could, as though he were making +the most of the daylight, his cabby's cape was flapping wildly about +him; inside the cab a man in evening dress was being jolted up and +down by the unevenness of the plain. + +This was of course that famous race from Pittsburg to Piccadilly, +going round by the long way, that started one night after dinner from +Mr. Flagdrop's house, and was won by Mr. Kagg, driving the Honourable +Alfred Fortescue, whose father it will be remembered was Hagar +Dermstein, and became (by Letters Patent) Sir Edgar Fortescue, and +finally Lord St. George. + +The Manchu shepherd stood there till evening, and when he saw that no +more cabs would come, turned homeward in search of food. + +And the rice prepared for him was hot and good, all the more after the +bitter coldness of that sleet. And when he had consumed it her +perused his experience, turning over again in his mind each detail of +the cabs he had seen; and from that his thoughts slipped calmly to the +glorious history of China, going back to the indecorous times before +calmness came, and beyond those times to the happy days of the earth +when the gods and dragons were here and China was young; and lighting +his opium pipe and casting his thoughts easily forward he looked to +the time when the dragons shall come again. + +And for a long while then his mind reposed itself in such a dignified +calm that no thought stirred there at all, from which when he was +aroused he cast off his lethargy as a man emerges from the baths, +refreshed, cleansed and contented, and put away from his musings the +things he had seen on the plain as being evil and of the nature of +dreams, or futile illusion, the results of activity which troubleth +calm. And then he turned his mind toward the shape of God, the One, +the Ineffable, who sits by the lotus lily, whose shape is the shape of +peace, and denieth activity, and went out his thanks to him that he +had cast all bad customs westward out of China as a woman throws +household dirt out of her basket far out into neighbouring gardens. + +From thankfulness he turned to calm again, and out of calm to sleep. + + + + +A PRETTY QUARREL + +On one of those unattained, and unattainable pinnacles that are known +as the Bleaks of Eerie, an eagle was looking East with a hopeful +presage of blood. + +For he knew, and rejoiced in the knowledge, that eastward over the +dells the dwarfs were risen in Ulk, and gone to war with the +demi-gods. + +The demi-gods are they that were born of earthly women, but their +sires are the elder gods who walked of old among men. Disguised they +would go through the villages sometimes in summer evenings, cloaked +and unknown of men; but the younger maidens knew them and always ran +to them singing, for all that their elders said: in evenings long ago +they had danced to the woods of the oak-trees. Their children dwelt +out-of-doors beyond the dells of the bracken, in the cool and heathery +lands, and were now at war with the dwarfs. + +Dour and grim were the demi-gods and had the faults of both parents, +and would not mix with men but claimed the right of their fathers, and +would not play human games but forever were prophesying, and yet were +more frivolous than their mothers were, whom the fairies had long +since buried in wild wood gardens with more than human rites. + +And being irked at their lack of rights and ill content with the land, +and having no power at all over the wind and snow, and caring little +for the powers they had, the demi-gods became idle, greasy, and slow; +and the contemptuous dwarfs despised them ever. + +The dwarfs were contemptuous of all things savouring of heaven, and of +everything that was even partly divine. They were, so it has been +said, of the seed of man; but, being squat and hairy like to the +beasts; they praised all beastly things, and bestiality was shown +reverence among them, so far as reverence was theirs to show. So most +of all they despised the discontent of the demi-gods, who dreamed of +the courts of heaven and power over wind and snow; for what better, +said the dwarfs, could demi-gods do than nose in the earth for roots +and cover their faces with mire, and run with the cheerful goats and +be even as they? + +Now in their idleness caused by their discontent, the seed of the gods +and the maidens grew more discontented still, and only spake of or +cared for heavenly things; until the contempt of the dwarfs, who heard +of all these doings, was bridled no longer and it must needs be war. +They burned spice, dipped in blood and dried, before the chief of +their witches, sharpening their axes, and made war on the demi-gods. + +They passed by night over the Oolnar Mountains, each dwarf with his +good axe, the old flint war-axe of his fathers, a night when no moon +shone, and they went unshod, and swiftly, to come on the demi-gods in +the darkness beyond the dells of Ulk, lying fat and idle and +contemptible. + +And before it was light they found the heathery lands, and the +demi-gods lying lazy all over the side of a hill. The dwarfs stole +towards them warily in the darkness. + +Now the art that the gods love most is the art of war: and when the +seed of the gods and those nimble maidens awoke and found it was war +it was almost as much to them as the godlike pursuits of heaven, +enjoyed in the marble courts; or power over wind and snow. They all +drew out at once their swords of tempered bronze, cast down to them +centuries since on stormy nights when their fathers, drew them and +faced the dwarfs, and casting their idleness from them, fell on them, +sword to axe. And the dwarfs fought hard that night, and bruised the +demi-gods sorely, hacking with those huge axes that had not spared the +oaks. Yet for all the weight of their blows and the cunning of their +adventure, one point they had overlooked: _the demi-gods were +immortal._ + +As the fight rolled on towards morning the fighters were fewer and +fewer, yet for all the blows of the dwarfs men fell upon one side +only. + +Dawn came and the demi-gods were fighting against no more than six, +and the hour that follows dawn, and the last of the dwarfs was gone. + +And when the light was clear on that peak of the Bleaks of Eerie the +eagle left his crag and flew grimly East, and found it was as he had +hoped in the matter of blood. + +But the demi-gods lay down in their heathery lands, for once content +though so far from the courts of heaven, and even half forgot their +heavenly rights, and sighed no more for power over wind and snow. + + + + +HOW THE GODS AVENGED MEOUL KI NING + +Meoul Ki Ning was on his way with a lily from the lotus ponds of Esh +to offer it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +on the road from the pond to the little hill and the temple Aoul +Keroon, Ap Ariph, his enemy, shot him with an arrow from a bow that he +had made out of bamboo, and took his pretty lily up the hill and +offered it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +the Goddess was pleased with the gift, as all women are, and sent +pleasant dreams to Ap Ariph for seven nights straight from the moon. + +And on the seventh night the gods held conclave together, on the +cloudy peaks they held it, above Narn, Ktoon, and Pti. So high their +peak arises that no man heard their voices. They spake on that cloudy +mountain (not the highest hamlet heard them). "What doth the Goddess +of Abundance," (but naming her Lling, as they name her), "what doth +she sending sweet dreams for seven nights to Ap Ariph?" + +And the gods sent for their seer who is all eyes and feet, running to +and fro on the Earth, observing the ways of men, seeing even their +littlest doings, never deeming a doing too little, but knowing the web +of the gods is woven of littlest things. He it is that sees the cat +in the garden of parakeets, the thief in the upper chamber, the sin of +the child with the honey, the women talking indoors and the small +hut's innermost things. Standing before the gods he told them the +case of Ap Ariph and the wrongs of Meoul Ki Ning and the rape of the +lotus lily; he told of the cutting and making of Ap Ariph's bamboo +bow, of the shooting of Meoul Ki Ning, and of how the arrow hit him, +and the smile on the face of Lling when she came by the lotus bloom. + +And the gods were wroth with Ap Ariph and swore to avenge Ki Ning. + +And the ancient one of the gods, he that is older than Earth, called +up the thunder at once, and raised his arms and cried out on the gods' +high windy mountain, and prophesied on those rocks with runes that +were older than speech, and sang in his wrath old songs that he had +learned in storm from the sea, when only that peak of the gods in the +whole of the earth was dry; and he swore that Ap Ariph should die that +night, and the thunder raged about him, and the tears of Lling were +vain. + +The lightning stroke of the gods leaping earthward seeking Ap Ariph +passed near to his house but missed him. A certain vagabond was down +from the hills, singing songs in the street near by the house of Ap +Ariph, songs of a former folk that dwelt once, they say, in those +valleys, and begging for rice and curds; it was him the lightning hit. + +And the gods were satisfied, and their wrath abated, and their thunder +rolled away and the great black clouds dissolved, and the ancient one +of the gods went back to his age-old sleep, and morning came, and the +birds and the light shone on the mountain, and the peak stood clear to +see, the serene home of the gods. + + + + +THE GIFT OF THE GODS + +There was once a man who sought a boon of the gods. For peace was +over the world and all things savoured of sameness, and the man was +weary at heart and sighed for the tents and the warfields. Therefore +he sought a boon of the ancient gods. And appearing before them he +said to them, "Ancient gods; there is peace in the land where I dwell, +and indeed to the uttermost parts, and we are full weary of peace. O +ancient gods, grant us war!" + +And the ancient gods made him a war. + +And the man went forth with his sword, and behold it was even war. And +the man remembered the little things that he knew, and thought of the +quiet days that there used to be, and at night on the hard ground +dreamed of the things of peace. And dearer and dearer grew the wonted +things, the dull but easeful things of the days of peace, and +remembering these he began to regret the war, and sought once more a +boon of the ancient gods, and appearing before them he said: "O +ancient gods, indeed but a man loves best the days of peace. Therefore +take back your war and give us peace, for indeed of all your +blessedness peace is best." + +And the man returned again to the haunts of peace. + +But in a while the man grew weary of peace, of the things that he used +to know, and the savour of sameness again; and sighing again for the +tents, and appearing once more to the gods, he said to them: "Ancient +gods; we do not love your peace, for indeed the days are dull, and a +man is best at war." + +And the gods made him a war. + +And there were drums again, the smoke of campfires again, wind in the +waste again, the sound of horses of war, burning cities again, and the +things that wanderers know; and the thoughts of that man went home to +the ways of peace; moss upon lawns again, light in old spires again, +sun upon gardens again, flowers in pleasant woods and sleep and the +paths of peace. + +And once more the man appeared to the ancient gods and sought from +them one more boon, and said to them: "Ancient gods; indeed but the +world and we are a-weary of war and long for the ancient ways and the +paths of peace." + +So the gods took back their war and gave him peace. + +But the man took counsel one day and communed long with himself and +said to himself: "Behold, the wishes I wish, which the gods grant, are +not to be much desired; and if the gods should one day grant a wish +and never revoke it, which is a way of the gods, I should be sorely +tried because of my wish; my wishes are dangerous wishes and not to be +desired." + +And therefore he wrote an anonymous letter to the gods, writing: "O +ancient gods; this man that hath four times troubled you with his +wishes, wishing for peace and war, is a man that hath no reverence for +the gods, speaking ill of them on days when they do not hear, and +speaking well of them on holy days and at the appointed hours when the +gods are hearkening to prayer. Therefore grant no more wishes to this +impious man." + +And the days of peace wore on and there arose again from the earth, +like mist in the autumn from the fields that generations have +ploughed, the savour of sameness again. And the man went forth one +morning and appeared once more to the gods, and cried: "O ancient +gods; give us but one war again, for I would be back to the camps and +debateable borders of lands." + +And the gods said: "We hear not well of your way of life, yea ill +things have come to our hearing, so that we grant no more the wishes +you wish." + + + + +THE SACK OF EMERALDS + +One bad October night in the high wolds beyond Wiltshire, with a north +wind chaunting of winter, with the old leaves letting go their hold +one by one from branches and dropping down to decay, with a mournful +sound of owls, and in fearsome loneliness, there trudged in broken +boots and in wet and windy rags an old man, stooping low under a sack +of emeralds. It were easy to see had you been travelling late on that +inauspicious night, that the burden of the sack was far too great for +the poor old man that bore it. And had you flashed a lantern in his +face there was a look there of hopelessness and fatigue that would +have told you it was no wish of his that kept him tottering on under +that bloated sack. + +When the menacing look of the night and its cheerless sounds, and the +cold, and the weight of the sack, had all but brought him to the door +of death, and he had dropped his sack onto the road and was dragging +it on behind him, just as he felt that his final hour was come, and +come (which was worse) as he held the accursed sack, just then he saw +the bulk and the black shape of the Sign of the Lost Shepherd loom up +by the ragged way. He opened the door and staggered into the light +and sank on a bench with his huge sack beside him. + +All this you had seen had you been on that lonely road, so late on +those bitter wolds, with their outlines vast and mournful in the dark, +and their little clumps of trees sad with October. But neither you +nor I were out that night. I did not see the poor old man and his +sack until he sank down all of a heap in the lighted inn. + +And Yon the blacksmith was there; and the carpenter, Willie Losh; and +Jackers, the postman's son. And they gave him a glass of beer. And +the old man drank it up, still hugging his emeralds. + +And at last they asked him what he had in his sack, the question he +clearly dreaded; and he only clasped yet tighter the sodden sack and +mumbled he had potatoes. + +"Potatoes," said Yon the blacksmith. + +"Potatoes," said Willie Losh. + +And when he heard the doubt that was in their voices the old man +shivered and moaned. + +"Potatoes, did you say?" said the postman's son. And they all three +rose and tried to peer at the sack that the rain-soaked wayfarer so +zealously sheltered. + +And from the old man's fierceness I had said that, had it not been for +that foul night on the roads and the weight he had carried so far and +the fearful winds of October, he had fought with the blacksmith, the +carpenter and the postman's son, all three, till he beat them away +from his sack. And weary and wet as he was he fought them hard. + +I should no doubt have interfered; and yet the three men meant no harm +to the wayfarer, but resented the reticence that he displayed to them +though they had given him beer; it was to them as though a master key +had failed to open a cupboard. And, as for me, curiosity held me down +to my chair and forbade me to interfere on behalf of the sack; for the +old man's furtive ways, and the night out of which he came, and the +hour of his coming, and the look of his sack, all made me long as much +to know what he had, as even the blacksmith, the carpenter and the +postman's son. + +And then they found the emeralds. They were all bigger than hazel +nuts, hundreds and hundreds of them: and the old man screamed. + +"Come, come, we're not thieves," said the blacksmith. + +"We're not thieves," said the carpenter. + +"We're not thieves," said the postman's son. + +And with awful fear on his face the wayfarer closed his sack, +whimpering over his emeralds and furtively glancing round as though +the loss of his secret were and utterly deadly thing. And then they +asked him to give them just one each, just one huge emerald each, +because they had given him a glass of beer. Then to see the wayfarer +shrink against his sack and guard it with clutching fingers one would +have said that he was a selfish man, were it not for the terror that +was freezing his face. I have seen men look sheer at Death with far +less fear. + +And they took their emerald all three, one enormous emerald each, +while the old man hopelessly struggled till he saw his three emeralds +go, and fell to the floor and wept, a pitiable, sodden heap. + +And about that time I began to hear far off down the windy road, by +which that sack had come, faintly at first and slowly louder and +louder, the click clack clop of a lame horse coming nearer. Click +clack clop and a loose shoe rattling, the sound of a horse too weary +to be out upon such a night, too lame to be out at all. + +Click clack clop. And all of a sudden the old wayfarer heard it; +heard it above the sound of his won sobbing, and at once went white to +the lips. Such sudden fear as blanched him in a moment struck right +to the hearts of all there. They muttered to him that it was only +their play, they hastily whispered excuses, they asked him what was +wrong, but seemed scarcely to hope for an answer, nor did he speak, +but sat with a frozen stare, all at once dry-eyed, a monument to +terror. + +Nearer and nearer came the click clack clop. + +And when I saw the expression of that man's face and how its horror +deepened as the ominous sound drew nearer, then I knew that something +was wrong. And looking for the last time upon all four I saw the +wayfarer horror-struck by his sack and the other three crowding round +to put their huge emeralds back then, even on such a night, I slipped +away from the inn. + +Outside the bitter wind roared in my ears, and close in the darkness +the horse went click clack clop. + +And as soon as my eyes could see at all in the night I saw a man in a +huge hat looped up in front, wearing a sword in a scabbard shabby and +huge, and looking blacker than the darkness, riding on a lean horse +slowly up to the inn. Whether his were the emeralds, or who he was, +or why he rode a lame horse on such a night, I did not stop to +discover, but went at once from the inn as he strode in his great +black riding coat up to the door. + +And that was the last that was ever seen of the wayfarer; the +blacksmith, the carpenter or the postman's son. + + + + +THE OLD BROWN COAT + +My friend, Mr. Douglas Ainslie, tells me that Sir James Barrie once +told him this story. The story, or rather the fragment, was as +follows. + +A man strolling into an auction somewhere abroad, I think it must have +been France, for they bid in francs, found they were selling old +clothes. And following some idle whim he soon found himself bidding +for an old coat. A man bid against him, he bid against the man. Up +and up went the price till the old coat was knocked down to him for +twenty pounds. As he went away with the coat he saw the other bidder +looking at him with an expression of fury. + +That's as far as the story goes. But how, Mr. Ainslie asked me, did +the matter develop, and why that furious look? I at once made +enquiries at a reliable source and have ascertained that the man's +name was Peters, who thus oddly purchased a coat, and that he took it +to the Rue de Rivoli, to a hotel where he lodged, from the little low, +dark auction room by the Seine in which he concluded the bargain. +There he examined it, off and on, all day and much of the next +morning, a light brown overcoat with tails, without discovering any +excuse, far less a reason, for having spent twenty pounds on so worn a +thing. And late next morning to his sitting room looking out on the +Gardens of the Tuileries the man with the furious look was ushered in. + +Grim he stood, silent and angry, till the guiding waiter went. Not +till then did he speak, and his words came clear and brief, welling up +from deep emotions. + +"How did you dare to bid against me?" + +His name was Santiago. And for many moments Peters found no excuse to +offer, no apology, nothing in extenuation. Lamely at last, weakly, +knowing his argument to be of no avail, he muttered something to the +intent that Mr. Santiago could have outbid him. + +"No," said the stranger. "We don't want all the town in this. This +is a matter between you and me." He paused, then added in his fierce, +curt way: "A thousand pounds, no more." + +Almost dumbly Peters accepted the offer and, pocketing the thousand +pounds that was paid him, and apologizing for the inconvenience he had +unwittingly caused, tried to show the stranger out. But Santiago +strode swiftly on before him, taking the coat, and was gone. + +There followed between Peters and his second thoughts another long +afternoon of bitter reproaches. Why ever had he let go so +thoughtlessly of a garment that so easily fetched a thousand pounds? +And the more he brooded on this the more clearly did he perceive that +he had lost an unusual opportunity of a first class investment of a +speculative kind. He knew men perhaps better than he knew materials; +and, though he could not see in that old brown coat the value of so +much as a thousand pounds, he saw far more than that in the man's +eager need for it. An afternoon of brooding over lost opportunities +led to a night of remorse, and scarcely had day dawned when he ran to +his sitting-room to see if he still had safe the card of Santiago. And +there was the neat and perfumed _carte de visite_ with Santiago's +Parisian address in the corner. + +That morning he sought him out, and found Santiago seated at a table +with chemicals and magnifying glasses beside him examining, as it lay +spread wide before him, the old brown coat. And Peters fancied he +wore a puzzled air. + +They came at once to business. Peters was rich and asked Santiago to +name his price, and that small dark man admitted financial straits, +and so was willing to sell for thirty thousand pounds. A little +bargaining followed, the price came down and the old brown coat +changed hands once more, for twenty thousand pounds. + +Let any who may be inclined to doubt my story understand that in the +City, as any respectable company promoter will tell them, twenty +thousand pounds is invested almost daily with less return for it than +an old tail coat. And, whatever doubts Mr. Peters felt that day about +the wisdom of his investment, there before him lay that tangible +return, that something that may be actually fingered and seen, which +is so often denied to the investor in gold mines and other Selected +Investments. Yet as the days wore on and the old coat grew no +younger, nor any more wonderful, nor the least useful, but more and +more like an ordinary old coat, Peters began once more to doubt his +astuteness. Before the week was out his doubts had grown acute. And +then one morning, Santiago returned. A man, he said, had just arrived +from Spain, a friend unexpected all of a sudden in Paris, from whom he +might borrow money: and would Peters resell the coat for thirty +thousand pounds? + +It was then that Peters, seeing his opportunity, cast aside the +pretence that he had maintained for so long of knowing something about +the mysterious coat, and demanded to know its properties. Santiago +swore that he knew not, and repeatedly swore the same by many sacred +names; but when Peters as often threatened not to sell, Santiago at +last drew out a thin cigar and, lighting it and settling himself in a +chair, told all he knew of the coat. + +He had been on its tracks for weeks with suspicions growing all the +time that it was no ordinary coat, and at last he had run it to earth +in that auction room but would not bid for it more than twenty pounds +for fear of letting every one into the secret. What the secret was he +swore he did not know, but this much he knew all along, that the +weight of the coat was absolutely nothing; and he had discovered by +testing it with acids that the brown stuff of which the coat was made +was neither cloth nor silk nor any known material, and would neither +burn nor tear. He believed it to be some undiscovered element. And +the properties of the coat which he was convinced were marvellous he +felt sure of discovering within another week by means of experiments +with his chemicals. Again he offered thirty thousand pounds, to be +paid within two or three days if all went well. And then they started +haggling together as business men will. + +And all the morning went by over the gardens of the Tuileries and the +afternoons came on, and only by two o'clock they arrived at an +understanding, on a basis, as they called it, of thirty thousand +guineas. And the old tail coat was brought out and spread on the +table, and they examined it together and chatted about its properties, +all the more friendly for their strenuous argument. And Santiago was +rising up to go, and Peters pleasantly holding out his hand, when a +step was heard on the stair. It echoed up to the room, the door +opened. And an elderly labouring man came stumping in. He walked +with difficulty, almost like a bather who has been swimming and +floating all morning and misses the buoyancy of the water when he has +come to land. He stumped up to the table without speaking and there at +once caught sight of the old brown coat. + +"Why," he said, "that be my old coat." + +And without another word he put it on. In the fierce glare of his +eyes as he fitted on that coat, carefully fastening the buttons, +buttoning up the flap of a pocket here, unbuttoning one there, neither +Peters nor Santiago found a word to say. They sat there wondering how +they had dared to bid for that brown tail coat, how they had dared to +buy it, even to touch it, they sat there silent without a single +excuse. And with no word more the old labourer stumped across the +room, opened wide the double window that looked on the Tuileries +gardens and, flashing back over his shoulder one look that was full of +scorn, stumped away up through the air at an angle of forty degrees. + +Peters and Santiago saw him bear to his left from the window; passing +diagonally over the Rue de Rivoli and over a corner of the Tuileries +gardens; they saw him clear the Louvre, and thence they dumbly watched +him still slanting upwards, stepping out with a firmer and more +confident stride as he dwindled and dwindled away with his old brown +coat. + +Neither spoke till he was no more than a speck in the sky far away +over Paris going South Eastwards. + +"Well I am blowed," said Peters. + +But Santiago sadly shook his head. "I knew it was a good coat," he +said. "I _knew_ it was a good coat." + + + + +AN ARCHIVE OF THE OLDER MYSTERIES + +It is told in the Archive of the Older Mysteries of China that one of +the house of Tlang was cunning with sharpened iron and went to the +green jade mountains and carved a green jade god. And this was in the +cycle of the Dragon, the seventy-eighth year. + +And for nearly a hundred years men doubted the green jade god, and +then they worshipped him for a thousand years; and after that they +doubted him again, and the green jade god made a miracle and whelmed +the green jade mountains, sinking them down one evening at sunset into +the earth so that there is only a marsh where the green jade mountains +were. And the marsh is full of the lotus. + +By the side of this lotus marsh, just as it glitters at evening, walks +Li La Ting, the Chinese girl, to bring the cows home; she goes behind +them singing of the river Lo Lang Ho. And thus she sings of the +river, even of Lo Lang Ho: she sings that he is indeed of all rivers +the greatest, born of more ancient mountains than even the wise men +know, swifter than hares, more deep than the sea, the master of other +rivers perfumed even as roses and fairer than the sapphires around the +neck of a prince. And then she would pray to the river Lo Lang Ho, +master of rivers and rival of the heaven at dawn, to bring her down in +a boat of light bamboo a lover rowing out of the inner land in a +garment of yellow silk with turquoises at his waist, young and merry +and idle, with a face as yellow as gold and a ruby in his cap with +lanterns shining at dusk. + +Thus she would pray of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho as she went +behind the cows at the edge of the lotus marshes and the green jade +god under the lotus marshes was jealous of the lover that the maiden +Li La Ting would pray for of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho, and +he cursed the river after the manner of gods and turned it into a +narrow and evil smelling stream. + +And all this happened a thousand years ago, and Lo Lang Ho is but a +reproach among travelers and the story of that great river is +forgotten, and what became of the maiden no tale saith though all men +think she became a goddess of jade to sit and smile at a lotus on a +lotus carven of stone by the side of the green jade god far under the +marshes upon the peaks of the mountains, but women know that her ghost +still haunts the lotus marshes on glittering evenings, singing of Lo +Lang Ho. + + + + +A CITY OF WONDER + +Past the upper corner of a precipice the moon rode into view. Night +had for some while now hooded the marvelous city. They had planned it +to be symmetrical, its maps were orderly, near; in two dimensions, +that is length and breadth, its streets met and crossed each other +with regular exactitude, with all the dullness of the science of man. +The city had laughed as it were and shaken itself free and in the +third dimension had soared away to consort with all the careless, +irregular things that know not man for their master. + +Yet even there, even at those altitudes, man had still clung to his +symmetry, still claimed that these mountains were houses; in orderly +rows the thousand windows stood watching each other precisely, all +orderly, all alike, lest any should guess by day that there might be +mystery here. So they stood in the daylight. The sun set, still they +were orderly, as scientific and regular as the labour of only man and +the bees. The mists darken at evening. And first the Woolworth +Building goes away, sheer home and away from any allegiance to man, to +take his place among mountains; for I saw him stand with the lower +slopes invisible in the gloaming, while only his pinnacles showed up +in the clearer sky. Thus only mountains stand. + +Still all the windows of the other buildings stood in their regular +rows--all side by side in silence, not yet changed, as though waiting +one furtive moment to step from the schemes of man, to slip back to +mystery and romance again as cats do when they steal on velvet feet +away from familiar hearths in the dark of the moon. + +Night fell, and the moment came. Someone lit a window, far up another +shone with its orange glow. Window by window, and yet not nearly all. +Surely if modern man with his clever schemes held any sway here still +he would have turned one switch and lit them all together; but we are +back with the older man of whom far songs tell, he whose spirit is kin +to strange romances and mountains. One by one the windows shine from +the precipices; some twinkle, some are dark; man's orderly schemes +have gone, and we are amongst vast heights lit by inscrutable beacons. + +I have seen such cities before, and I have told of them in _The Book +of Wonder_. + +Here in New York a poet met a welcome. + + + + + ** BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW ** + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE + +Beyond the fields we know, in the Lands of Dream, lies the Valley of +the Yann where the mighty river of that name, rising in the Hills of +Hap, idleing its way by massive dream-evoking amethyst cliffs, +orchid-laden forests, and ancient mysterious cities, comes to the Gates +of Yann and passes to the sea. + +Some years since a poet visiting that land voyaged down the Yann on a +trading bark named the _Bird of the River_ and returning safe to +Ireland, set down in a tale that is called _Idle Days on the Yann_, +the wonders of that voyage. Now the tale being one of marvellous +beauty, found its way into a volume we call _A Dreamer's Tales_ where +it may be found to this day with other wondrous tales of that same +poet. + +As the days went by the lure of the river and pleasant memories of his +shipmates bore in with a constant urge on the soul of the poet that he +might once more journey Beyond the Fields We Know and come to the +floor of Yann; and one day it fell out that turning into Go-by Street +that leads up from the Embankment toward the Strand and which you and +I always do go by and perhaps never see in passing, he found the door +which one enters on the way to the Land of Dream. + +Twice of late has Lord Dunsany entered that door in Go-by Street and +returned to the Valley of the Yann and each time come back with a +tale; one, of his search for the _Bird of the River,_ the other of the +mighty hunter who avenged the destruction of Perdóndaris, where on his +earlier voyage the captain tied up his ship and traded within the +city. That all may be clear to those who read these new tales and to +whom no report has previously come Beyond the Fields We Know the +publishers reprint in this volume _Idle Days on the Yann_. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + +So I came down through the wood to the bank of Yann and found, as had +been prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her +cable. + +The captain sate cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar +lying beside him in its jewelled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to +spread the nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of +Yann, and all the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of +the evening descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous +abode of distant gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious +city, into the wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered +the greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to +inquire concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the +most holy gods of whatever land he had come from. And the captain +answered that he came from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that +were the least and humblest, who seldom sent the famine or the +thunder, and were easily appeased with little battles. And I told how +I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, whereat the captain and all +the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are no such places in all +the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock me, I explained that +my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, about a beautiful +city called Golthoth the Damned, which was sentinelled all round by +wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly desolate for years and +years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke in anger and could +never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as far as Pungar +Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which trades with +the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon the +abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that +evening I bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay +him for my fare if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as +far as the cliffs by the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate +of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven +had held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the +imminent approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the +jungle on either bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches +of the trees were silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the +forest were going up and down, and the great stars came gleaming out +to look on the face of Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and +hung them round the ship, and the light flashed out on a sudden and +dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed along his marshy banks all +suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the upper air, and saw the +distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that softly cloaked the +jungle, before they returned again into their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, +but five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together +five or six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different +faiths, so that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As +soon as any one had finished his prayer, another of the same faith +would take his place. Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended +heads under the fluttering sail, while the central stream of the River +Yann took them on towards the sea, and their prayers rose up from +among the lanterns and went towards the stars. And behind them in the +after end of the ship the helmsman prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, +which is prayed by all who follow his trade upon the River Yann, of +whatever faith they be. And the captain prayed to his little lesser +gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous +God there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were +being humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, +whom the men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now +unworshipped and alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all +men who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers +comforted our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elated with +molten snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, +and the Marn and Migris were swollen full with floods; and he bore us +in his might past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the +midstream of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all +awoke, and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of +Yann and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. +Then while the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the +gate of Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the +guard. A sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, +armed with a rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered +with dust. Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was +over all of it. The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on +doorsteps; in the market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of +incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of the echoes of +distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the region of +Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to +ask him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because +none might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the +_Bird of the River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering +over her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out +again, and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the +sun was moving towards his heights, and there had reached us on the +River Yann the song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend +him in his progress round the world. For the little creatures that +have many legs had spread their gauze wings easily on the air, as a +man rests his elbows on a balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial +praises to the sun, or else they moved together on the air in wavering +dances intricate and swift, or turned aside to avoid the onrush of +some drop of water that a breeze had shaken from a jungle orchid, +chilling the air and driving it before it, as it fell whirring in its +rush to the earth; but all the while they sang triumphantly. "For the +day is for us," they said, "whether our great and sacred father the +Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, or whether all +the world shall end to-night." And there sang all those whose notes +are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more numerous +notes have never been heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold +and rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, +but danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of +distant conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some +encampment of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond +that would never abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple +orchids and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the +jungle's decay. And they, too, were among those whose voices are not +discernible by human ears. And as they floated above the river, going +from forest to forest, their splendour was matched by the inimical +beauty of the birds who darted out to pursue them. Or sometimes they +settled on the white and wax-like blooms of the plant that creeps and +clambers about the trees of the forest; and their purple wings flashed +out on the great blossoms as, when the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, +the gleaming silks flash out upon the snow, where the crafty merchants +spread them one by one to astonish the mountaineers of the Hills of +Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent a drowsiness. The river monsters +along the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched +a pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and +then went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an +awning between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of +his own city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen +asleep. The captain offered me the shade of his pavilion with the gold +tassels, and there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was +taking merchandise to Perdóndaris, and that he would take back to fair +Belzoond things appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I +watched through the pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and +butterflies that crossed and recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, +and dreamed that I was a monarch entering his capital underneath +arches of flags, and all the musicians of the world were there, +playing melodiously their instruments; but no one cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens +upon the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to +the steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three +sides of which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court +and along the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity +and care according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city +was of ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had +broken it remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and +everywhere were represented in stone beasts that have long since +passed away from Earth--the dragon, the griffin, and the hippogriffin, +and the different species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, +whether material or custom, that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no +notice at all of us as we went by, but continued their processions and +ceremonies in the ancient city, and the sailors, knowing their custom, +took no notice of them. But I called, as we came near, to one who +stood beside the water's edge, asking him what men did in Astahahn and +what their merchandise was, and with whom they traded. He said, "Here +we have fettered and manacled Time, who would otherwise slay the +gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and +would say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with +ancient custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted +onwards and left Astahahn, and we found in greater quantities such +birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in their +plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had +appeared over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at +the trees with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, +chilling the air; and white shapes moved away into the jungle as +though the ghosts of shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in +the darkness for the spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on +the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted +summit of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the +slime in which they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the +great beasts of the jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while +since were gone to rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed +night seemed already to have fallen, though the sun which had +disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions +as soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the +widgeon began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, +and then would suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by +us the small and arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of +flocks of geese, which the sailors told me had recently come in from +crossing over the Lispasian ranges; every year they come by the same +way, close by the peak of Mluna, leaving it to the left, and the +mountain eagles know the way they come and--men say--the very hour, +and every year they expect them by the same way as soon as the snows +have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it grew so dark that we +saw these birds no more, and only heard the whirring of their wings, +and of countless others besides, until they all settled down along the +banks of the river, and it was the hour when the birds of the night +went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the night, and huge +moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments their gorgeous +colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would pass into +the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors prayed, +and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our lives +into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdóndaris, that +famous city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and +notable, and all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the +jungle that was so long with us. And we were anchored by the +marketplace, and the captain's merchandise was all displayed, and a +merchant of Perdóndaris stood looking at it. And the captain had his +scimitar in his hand, and was beating with it in anger upon the deck, +and the splinters were flying up from the white planks; for the +merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that the captain +declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, whom he +now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great +fatness, showing his pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought +not at all, but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to +whom he wished to sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, +leaving no remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly +the thick toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the +floor, and tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the +merchant said if he offered a piffek more the poor folk must go +without their toomarunds when the winter came, and without their +tollub in the evenings, or else he and his aged father must starve +together. Thereat the captain lifted his scimitar to his own throat, +saying that he was now a ruined man, and that nothing remained to him +but death. And while he was carefully lifting he beard with his left +hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and said that rather +than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had conceived an +especial love when first he saw the manner in which he handled his +ship, he and his aged father should starve together and therefore he +offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his +gods that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his +little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain +wept, for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant +also wept, for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of +how soon he would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his +hands, and eyed the tollub again between his fingers. And so the +bargain was concluded, and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, +paying for them out of a great clinking purse. And these were packed +up into bales again, and three of the merchant's slaves carried them +upon their heads into the city. And all the while the sailors had sat +silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon the deck, eagerly watching the +bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction arose among them, and they +began to compare it among themselves with other bargains that they had +known. And I found out from them that there are seven merchants in +Perdóndaris, and that they had all come to the captain one by one +before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately against +the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the wine +of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and +all made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because +he knew that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the +bargain that he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their +native land, and soon their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and +the little neighbouring cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little glass some heavy yellow +wine from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. +Thick and sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a +mighty, ardent fire which had authority over souls of men. It was +made, the captain told me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of +a family of six who lived in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once +in these mountains, he said, he followed the spoor of a bear, and he +came suddenly on a man of that family who had hunted the same bear, +and he was at the end of a narrow way with precipice all about him, +and his spear was sticking in the bear, and the wound not fatal, and +he had no other weapon. And the bear was walking towards the man, very +slowly because his wound irked him--yet he was now very close. And +what the captain did he would not say, but every year as soon as the +snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian Min, that man comes +down to the market in the plains, and always leaves for the captain in +the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide +of the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not +now minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. +Towards evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdóndaris before we left +in the morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore +alone. Certainly Perdóndaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed +by a wall of great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for +troops to walk in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen +strong towers on it in every mile, and copper plaques low down where +men could read them, telling in all the languages of those parts of +the Earth--one language on each plaque--the tale of how an army once +attacked Perdóndaris and what befell that army. Then I entered +Perdóndaris and found all the people dancing, clad in brilliant silks, +and playing on the tam-bang as they danced. For a fearful thunderstorm +had terrified them while I slept, and the fires of death, they said, +had danced over Perdóndaris, and now the thunder had gone leaping away +large and black and hideous, they said, over the distant hills, and +had turned round snarling at them, showing his gleaming teeth, and had +stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they rang as though they +had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in their merry +dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God that we +know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his hills." +And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon the +marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves +were fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I +came to a silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were +many wonders in Perdóndaris, and I would have stayed and seen them +all, but as I came to the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it +a huge ivory gate. For a while I paused and admired it, then I came +nearer and perceived the dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of +one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I +ran I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of +the fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps +even then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I +felt safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up +from the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of +Perdóndaris still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain +and told him quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at +once about the gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; +and I told him how the weight of the thing was such that it could not +have been brought from afar, and the captain knew that it had not been +there a year ago. We agreed that such a beast could never have been +killed by any assault of man, and that the gate must have been a +fallen tusk, and one fallen near and recently. Therefore he decided +that it were better to flee at once; so he commanded, and the sailors +went to the sails, and others raised the anchor to the deck, and just +as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the last rays of the sun we +left Perdóndaris, that famous city. And night came down and cloaked +Perdóndaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things have happened +will never see it again; for I have heard since that something swift +and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdóndaris in a day--towers, and +walls, and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with +stars. And with the night there arose the helmsman's song. As soon as +he had prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely +night. But first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is +what I remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble +equivalent of the rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic +nights + + To whatever god may hear. + + Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their + way be dark or whether through storm: whether their perils be of + beast or of rock: or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: + wherever the tiller is cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors + sleep or helmsman watch: guard, guide, and return us to the old + land, that has known us: to the far homes that we know. + + To all the gods that are. + + To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster +of the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. +And he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old +dragon-legends of Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little +tales and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over +the black jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great +bands of stars that looked on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl +and Duz, and of the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and +the flocks that they had, and the loves that they had loved, and all +the little things that they hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in +skins and blankets listening to those songs, and watching the +fantastic shapes of the great trees like to black giants stalking +through the night, I suddenly fell asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the +flow of the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves +appeared; for Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, +and knew that their ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet +the merry wild Irillion rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off +from him the torpid sleep that had come upon him in the hot and +scented jungle, and forgot its orchids and its butterflies, and swept +on turbulent, expectant, strong; and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills +of Glorm came glittering into view. And now the sailors were waking up +from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then the helmsman laid him down to +sleep while a comrade took his place, and they all spread over him +their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came +down dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And +now we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the +sailors stood up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own +far-off Acroctian hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the +plains stands fair Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder +and louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down +from the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, +and wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up +near the mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then +she went away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, +and opened upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the +light of day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the +marshes of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and +slowly, and the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the +dreariness of the marshes. + +At last the Irusian Mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then the night came down +over the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We +heard the Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and +Golzunda, then all but the helmsman slept. And villages scattered +along the banks of the Yann heard all that night in the helmsman's +unknown tongue the little songs of cities that they know not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I +remembered why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching +day, according to all forseen probabilities, we should come to +Bar-Wul-Yann, and I should part from the captain and his sailors. And I +had liked the man because he had given me of his yellow wine that was +set apart among his sacred things, and many a story he had told me +about his fair Belzoond between the Acrotian hills and the Hian Min. +And I had liked the ways that his sailors had, and the prayers that +they prayed at evening side by side, grudging not one another their +alien gods. And I had a liking too for the tender way in which they +often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is good that men should love their +native cities and the little hills that hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acrotian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others +in the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by +the fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced +us all alike outside Perdóndaris, a danger that, as things have +happened, was very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; +and the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled a +while; then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northwards, so +that the sailors had to hoist the sails, and the wind being +favourable, we still held onwards. + +And we passed Góndara and Narl and Hoz. And we saw memorable, holy +Golnuz, and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the +last of the cities in the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us +once again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over +all things, and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and +found that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that +is known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the +people of Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering +at their own streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had +crowded all the ways, and every one was doing some strange thing. Some +danced astounding dances that they had learned from the desert wind, +rapidly curving and swirling till the eye could follow no longer. +Others played upon instruments beautiful wailing tunes that were full +of horror, which souls had taught them lost by night in the desert, +that strange far desert from which the Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any +part of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were +made were of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were +barbed at the tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that +seemed to be akin to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear +that haunts dark places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told +one another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew aught of +their language, yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, +and as the tale wound on, the whites of their eyes showed vividly in +terror as the eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then +the teller of the tale would smile and stop, and another would tell +his story, and the teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with +fear. And if some deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would +greet him like a brother, and the snake would seem to give his +greetings to them before he passed on again. Once that most fierce and +lethal of tropic snakes, the giant lythra, came out of the jungle and +all down the street, the central street of Nen, and none of the +Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played sonorously on +drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and the snake +moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one +of them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in +silence with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly +draw from his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen +could do nothing of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they +greet the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of +Mloon, but it was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain +might return from Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on +board and continued down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, +for we were thinking of our parting, which should be for long, and we +watched instead the splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a +ruddy gold, but a faint mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into +it poured the smoke of the little jungle cities, and the smoke of them +met together in the mist and joined into one haze, which became +purple, and was lit by the sun, as the thoughts of men become hallowed +by some great and sacred thing. Sometimes one column from a lonely +house would rise up higher than the cities' smoke, and gleam by itself +in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight +that I had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either +shore two cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing +in the light of the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of +mountainous altitude, and they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling +between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance +through that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where +little fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sunset and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld-and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the +colours of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those +cliffs was to me as some chord of music that a master's hand had +launched from the violin, and which carries to Heaven of Faëry the +tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no farther, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back +again to his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian +Min, and I to find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields +that all poets know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through +whose windows, looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and +looking eastwards see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, +going range on range into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the +kingdom of Fantasy, which pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we +should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped +hands, uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in +his country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to +his little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless +Belzoond. + + + + +A SHOP IN GO-BY STREET + +I said I must go back to Yann again and see if _Bird of the River_ +still plies up and down and whether her bearded captain commands her +still or whether he sits in the gate of fair Belzoond drinking at +evening the marvellous yellow wine that the mountaineer brings down +from the Hian Min. And I wanted to see the sailors again who came +from Durl and Duz and to hear from their lips what befell Perdóndaris +when its doom came up without warning from the hills and fell on that +famous city. And I wanted to hear the sailors pray at night each to +his own god, and to feel the wind of the evening coolly arise when the +sun went flaming away from that exotic river. For I thought never +again to see the tide of Yann, but when I gave up politics not long +ago the wings of my fancy strengthened, though they had erstwhile +drooped, and I had hopes of coming behind the East once more where +Yann like a proud white war-horse goes through the Lands of Dream. + +Yet I had forgotten the way to those little cottages on the edge of +the fields we know whose upper windows, though dim with antique +cobwebs, look out on the fields we know not and are the starting-point +of all adventure in all the Lands of Dream. + +I therefore made enquiries. And so I came to be directed to the shop +of a dreamer who lives not far from the Embankment in the City. Among +so many streets as there are in the city it is little wonder that +there is one that has never been seen before; it is named Go-by Street +and runs out of the Strand if you look very closely. Now when you +enter this man's shop you do not go straight to the point but you ask +him to sell you something, and if it is anything with which he can +supply you he hands it you and wishes you good-morning. It is his +way. And many have been deceived by asking for some unlikely thing, +such as the oyster-shell from which was taken one of those single +pearls that made the gates of Heaven in Revelations, and finding that +the old man had it in stock. + +He was comatose when I went into the shop, his heavy lids almost +covered his little eyes; he sat, and his mouth was open. I said, "I +want some of Abama and Pharpah, rivers of Damascus." "How much?" he +said. "Two and a half yards of each, to be delivered to my flat." +"That is very tiresome," he muttered, "very tiresome. We do not stock +it in that quantity." "Then I will take all you have," I said. + +He rose laboriously and looked among some bottles. I saw one +labelled: Nilos, river of Ægyptos; and others Holy Ganges, Phlegethon, +Jordan; I was almost afraid he had it, when I heard him mutter again, +"This is very tiresome," and presently he said, "We are out of it." +"Then," I said, "I wish you to tell me the way to those little +cottages in whose upper chambers poets look out upon the fields we +know not, for I wish to go into the Land of Dream and to sail once +more upon mighty, sea-like Yann." + +At that he moved heavily and slowly in way-worn carpet slippers, +panting as he went, to the back part of his shop, and I went with him. +This was a dingy lumber-room full of idols: the near end was dingy and +dark but at the far end was a blue cærulean glow in which stars seemed +to be shining and the heads of the idols glowed. "This," said the fat +old man in carpet slippers, "is the heaven of the gods who sleep." I +asked him what gods slept and he mentioned names that I had never +heard as well as names that I knew. "All those," he said, "that are +not worshipped now are asleep." + +"Then does Time not kill the gods?" I said to him and he answered, +"No. But for three or four thousand years a god is worshipped and for +three or four he sleeps. Only Time is wakeful always." + +"But they that teach us of new gods"--I said to him, "are they not +new?" + +"They hear the old ones stirring in their sleep being about to wake, +because the dawn is breaking and the priests crow. These are the +happy prophets: unhappy are they that hear some old god speak while he +sleeps still being deep in slumber, and prophesy and prophesy and no +dawn comes, they are those that men stone saying, 'Prophesy where this +stone shall hit you, and this.'" + +"Then shall Time never slay the gods," I said. And he answered, "They +shall die by the bedside of the last man. Then Time shall go mad in +his solitude and shall not know his hours from his centuries of years +and they shall clamour round him crying for recognition and he shall +lay his stricken hands on their heads and stare at them blindly and +say, 'My children, I do not know you one from another,' and at these +words of Time empty worlds shall reel." + +And for some while then I was silent, for my imagination went out into +those far years and looked back at me and mocked me because I was the +creature of a day. + +Suddenly I was aware by the old man's heavy breathing that he had gone +to sleep. It was not an ordinary shop: I feared lest one of his gods +should wake and call for him: I feared many things, it was so dark, +and one or two of those idols were something more than grotesque. I +shook the old man hard by one of his arms. + +"Tell me the way to the cottages," I said, "on the edge of the fields +we know." + +"I don't think we can do that," he said. + +"Then supply me," I said, "with the goods." + +That brought him to his senses. He said, "You go out by the back door +and turn to the right"; and he opened a little, old, dark door in the +wall through which I went, and he wheezed and shut the door. The back +of the shop was of incredible age. I saw in antique characters upon a +mouldering board, "Licensed to sell weasels and jade earrings." The +sun was setting now and shone on little golden spires that gleamed +along the roof which had long ago been thatched and with a wonderful +straw. I saw that the whole of Go-by Street had the same strange +appearance when looked at from behind. The pavement was the same as +the pavement of which I was weary and of which so many thousand miles +lay the other side of those houses, but the street was of most pure +untrampled grass with such marvellous flowers in it that they lured +downward from great heights the flocks of butterflies as they traveled +by, going I know not whence. The other side of the street there was +pavement again but no houses of any kind, and what there was in place +of them I did not stop to see, for I turned to my right and walked +along the back of Go-by Street till I came to the open fields and the +gardens of the cottages that I sought. Huge flowers went up out of +these gardens like slow rockets and burst into purple blooms and stood +there huge and radiant on six-foot stalks and softly sang strange +songs. Others came up beside them and bloomed and began singing too. +A very old witch came out of her cottage by the back door and into the +garden in which I stood. + +"What are these wonderful flowers?" I said to her. + +"Hush! Hush!" she said, "I am putting the poets to bed. These +flowers are their dreams." + +And in a lower voice I said: "What wonderful songs are they singing?" +and she said, "Be still and listen." + +And I listened and found they were singing of my own childhood and of +things that happened there so far away that I had quite forgotten them +till I heard the wonderful song. + +"Why is the song so faint?" I said to her. + +"Dead voices," she said, "Dead voices," and turned back again to her +cottage saying: "Dead voices" still, but softly for fear that she +should wake the poets. "They sleep so badly while they live," she +said. + +I stole on tiptoe upstairs to the little room from whose windows, +looking one way, we see the fields we know and, looking another, those +hilly lands that I sought--almost I feared not to find them. I looked +at once toward the mountains of faëry; the afterglow of the sunset +flamed on them, their avalanches flashed on their violet slopes coming +down tremendous from emerald peaks of ice; and there was the old gap +in the blue-grey hills above the precipice of amethyst whence one sees +the Lands of Dream. + +All was still in the room where the poets slept when I came quietly +down. The old witch sat by a table with a lamp, knitting a splendid +cloak of gold and green for a king that had been dead a thousand +years. + +"Is it any use," I said, "to the king that is dead that you sit and +knit him a cloak of gold and green?" + +"Who knows?" she said. + +"What a silly question to ask," said her old black cat who lay curled +by the fluttering fire. + +Already the stars were shining on that romantic land when I closed the +witch's door; already the glow-worms were mounting guard for the night +around those magical cottages. I turned and trudged for the gap in +the blue-grey mountains. + +Already when I arrived some colour began to show in the amethyst +precipice below the gap although it was not yet morning. I heard a +rattling and sometimes caught a flash from those golden dragons far +away below me that are the triumph of the goldsmiths of Sirdoo and +were given life by the ritual incantations of the conjurer Amargrarn. +On the edge of the opposite cliff, too near I thought for safety, I +saw the ivory palace of Singanee that mighty elephant-hunter; small +lights appeared in windows, the slaves were awake, and beginning with +heavy eyelids the work of the day. + +And now a ray of sunlight topped the world. Others than I must +describe how it swept from the amethyst cliff the shadow of the black +one that opposed it, how that one shaft of sunlight pierced the +amethyst for leagues, and how the rejoicing colour leaped up to +welcome the light and shot back a purple glow on the walls of the +palace of ivory while down in that incredible ravine the golden +dragons still played in the darkness. + +At this moment a female slave came out by a door of the palace and +tossed a basket-full of sapphires over the edge. And when day was +manifest on those marvellous heights and the flare of the amethyst +precipice filled the abyss, then the elephant-hunter arose in his +ivory palace and took his terrific spear and going out by a landward +door went forth to avenge Perdóndaris + +I turned then and looked upon the lands of Dream, and the thin white +mist that never rolls quite away was shifting in the morning. Rising +like isles above it I saw the Hills of Hap and the city of copper, +old, deserted Bethmoora, and Utnar Véhi and Kyph and Mandaroon and the +wandering leagues of Yann. Rather I guessed than saw the Hian Min +whose imperturbable and aged heads scarce recognize for more than +clustered mounds the round Acroctian hills, that are heaped about +their feet and that shelter, as I remembered, Durl and Duz. But most +clearly I discerned that ancient wood through which one going down to +the bank of Yann whenever the moon is old may come on _Bird of the +River_ anchored there, waiting three days for travellers, as has been +prophesied of her. And as it was now that season I hurried down from +the gap in the blue-grey hills by an elfin path that was coeval with +fable, and came by means of it to the edge of the wood. Black though +the darkness was in that ancient wood the beasts that moved in it were +blacker still. It is very seldom that any dreamer travelling in Lands +of Dream is ever seized by these beasts, and yet I ran; for if a man's +spirit is seized in the Lands of Dream his body may survive it for +many years and well know the beasts that mouthed him far away and the +look in their little eyes and the smell of their breath; that is why +the recreation field at Hanwell is so dreadfully trodden into restless +paths. + +And so I came at last to the sea-like flood of proud, tremendous Yann, +with whom there tumbled streams from incredible lands--with these he +went by singing. Singing he carried drift-wood and whole trees, +fallen in far-away, unvisited forests, and swept them mightily by, but +no sign was there either out in the river or in the olden anchorage +near by of the ship I came to see. + +And I built myself a hut and roofed it over with the huge abundant +leaves of a marvellous weed and ate the meat that grows on the +targar-tree and waited there three days. And all day long the river +tumbled by and all night long the tolulu-bird sang on and the huge +fireflies had no other care than to pour past in torrents of dancing +sparks, and nothing rippled the surface of the Yann by day and nothing +disturbed the tolulu-bird by night. I know not what I feared for the +ship I sought and its friendly captain who came from fair Belzoond and +its cheery sailors out of Durl and Duz; all day long I looked for it +on the river and listened for it by night until the dancing fireflies +danced me to sleep. Three times only in those three nights the +tolulu-bird was scared and stopped his song, and each time I awoke +with a start and found no ship and saw that he was only scared by the +dawn. Those indescribable dawns upon the Yann came up like flames in +some land over the hills where a magician burns by secret means +enormous amethysts in a copper pot. I used to watch them in wonder +while no bird sang--till all of a sudden the sun came over a hill and +every bird but one began to sing, and the tolulu-bird slept fast, till +out of an opening eye he saw the stars. + +I would have waited three more days, but on the third day I had gone +in my loneliness to see the very spot where first I met _Bird of the +River_ at her anchorage with her bearded captain sitting on the deck. +And as I looked at the black mud of the harbour and pictured in my +mind that band of sailors whom I had not seen for two years, I saw an +old hulk peeping from the mud. The lapse of centuries seemed partly +to have rotted and partly to have buried in the mud all but the prow +of the boat and on the prow I faintly saw a name. I read it slowly-- +it was _Bird of the River._ And then I knew that, while in Ireland and +London two years had barely passed over my head, ages had gone over +the region of Yann and wrecked and rotted that once familiar ship, and +buried years ago the bones of the youngest of my friends, who so often +sang to me of Durl and Duz or told the dragon-legends of Belzoond. +For beyond the world we know there roars a hurricane of centuries +whose echo only troubles--though sorely--our fields; while elsewhere +there is calm. I stayed a moment by that battered hulk and said a +prayer for whatever may be immortal of those who were wont to sail it +down the Yann, and I prayed for them to the gods to whom they loved to +pray, to the little lesser gods that bless Belzoond. Then leaving the +hut that I built to those ravenous years I turned my back to the Yann +and entering the forest at evening just as its orchids were opening +their petals to perfume the night came out of it in the morning, and +passed that day along the amethyst gulf by the gap in the blue-grey +mountains. I wondered if Singanee, that mighty elephant-hunter, had +returned again with his spear to his lofty ivory palace or if his doom +had been one with that of Perdóndaris. I saw a merchant at a small +back door selling new sapphires as I passed the palace, then I went on +and came as twilight fell to those small cottages where the elfin +mountains are in sight of the fields we know. And I went to the old +witch that I had seen before and she sat in her parlour with a red +shawl round her shoulders still knitting the golden cloak, and faintly +through one of her windows the elfin mountains shone and I saw again +through another the fields we know. + +"Tell me something," I said, "of this strange land!" + +"How much do you know?" she said. "Do you know that dreams are +illusion?" + +"Of course I do," I said. "Every one knows that." + +"Oh no they don't," she said, "the mad don't know it." + +"That is true," I said. + +"And do you know," she said, "that Life is illusion?" + +"Of course it is not," I said. "Life is real, Life is earnest----." + +At that the witch and her cat (who had not moved from her old place by +the hearth) burst into laughter. I stayed some time, for there was +much that I wished to ask, but when I saw that the laughter would not +stop I turned and went away. + + + + +THE AVENGER OF PERDÓNDARIS + +I was rowing on the Thames not many days after my return from the Yann +and drifting eastwards with the fall of the tide away from Westminster +Bridge, near which I had hired my boat. All kinds of things were on +the water with me--sticks drifting, and huge boats--and I was +watching, so absorbed the traffic of that great river that I did not +notice I had come to the City until I looked up and saw that part of +the Embankment that is nearest to Go-by Street. And then I suddenly +wondered what befell Singanee, for there was a stillness about his +ivory palace when I passed it by, which made me think that he had not +then returned. And though I had seen him go forth with his terrific +spear, and mighty elephant-hunter though he was, yet his was a fearful +quest for I knew that it was none other than to avenge Perdóndaris by +slaying that monster with the single tusk who had overthrown it +suddenly in a day. So I tied up my boat as soon as I came to some +steps, and landed and left the Embankment, and about the third street +I came to I began to look for the opening of Go-by Street; it is very +narrow, you hardly notice it at first, but there it was, and soon I +was in the old man's shop. But a young man leaned over the counter. +He had no information to give me about the old man--he was sufficient +in himself. As to the little old door in the back of the shop, "We +know nothing about that, sir." So I had to talk to him and humour +him. He had for sale on the counter an instrument for picking up a +lump of sugar in a new way. He was pleased when I looked at it and he +began to praise it. I asked him what was the use of it, and he said +that it was of no use but that it had only been invented a week ago +and was quite new and was made of real silver and was being very much +bought. But all the while I was straying towards the back of the +shop. When I enquired about the idols there he said that they were +some of the season's novelties and were a choice selection of mascots; +and while I made a pretence of selecting one I suddenly saw the +wonderful old door. I was through it at once and the young +shop-keeper after me. No one was more surprised than he when he saw +the street of grass and the purple flowers on it; he ran across in his +frock-coat on to the opposite pavement and only just stopped in time, +for the world ended there. Looking downward over the pavement's edge +he saw, instead of accustomed kitchen-windows, white clouds and a +wide, blue sky. I led him to the old back door of the shop, looking +pale and in need of air, and pushed him lightly and he went limply +through, for I thought the air was better for him on the side of the +street that he knew. As soon as the door was shut on that astonished +man I turned to the right and went along the street till I saw the +gardens and the cottages, and a little red patch moving in a garden, +which I knew to be the old witch wearing her shawl. + +"Come for a change of illusion again?" she said. + +"I have come from London," I said. "And I want to see Singanee. I +want to go to his ivory palace over the elfin mountains where the +amethyst precipice is." + +"Nothing like changing your illusions," she said, "or you grow tired. +London's a fine place but one wants to see the elfin mountains +sometimes." + +"Then you know London?" I said. + +"Of course I do," she said. "I can dream as well as you. You are not +the only person that can imagine London." Men were toiling dreadfully +in her garden; it was in the heat of the day and they were digging +with spades; she suddenly turned from me to beat one of them over the +back with a long black stick that she carried. "Even my poets go to +London sometimes," she said to me. + +"Why did you beat that man?" I said. + +"To make him work," she answered. + +"But he is tired," I said. + +"Of course he is," said she. + +And I looked and saw that the earth was difficult and dry and that +every spadeful that the tired men lifted was full of pearls; but some +men sat quite still and watched the butterflies that flitted about the +garden and the old witch did not beat them with her stick. And when I +asked her who the diggers were she said, "These are my poets, they are +digging for pearls." And when I asked her what so many pearls were +for she said to me: "To feed the pigs of course." + +"But do the pigs like pearls?" I said to her. + +"Of course they don't," she said. And I would have pressed the matter +further but the old black cat had come out of the cottage and was +looking at me whimsically and saying nothing so that I knew I was +asking silly questions. And I asked instead why some of the poets +were idle and were watching butterflies without being beaten. And she +said: "The butterflies know where the pearls are hidden and they are +waiting for one to alight above the buried treasure. They cannot dig +until they know where to dig." And all of a sudden a faun came out of +a rhododendron forest and began to dance upon a disk of bronze in +which a fountain was set; and the sound of his two hooves dancing on +the bronze was beautiful as bells. + +"Tea-bell," said the witch; and all the poets threw down their spades +and followed her into the house, and I followed them; but the witch +and all of us followed the black cat, who arched his back and lifted +his tail and walked along the garden-path of blue enamelled tiles and +through the black-thatched porch and the open, oaken door and into a +little room where tea was ready. And in the garden the flowers began +to sing and the fountain tinkled on the disk of bronze. And I learned +that the fountain came from an otherwise unknown sea, and sometimes it +threw gilded fragments up from the wrecks of unheard-of galleons, +foundered in storms of some sea that was nowhere in the world; or +battered to bits in wars waged with we know not whom. Some said that +it was salt because of the sea and others that it was salt with +mariners' tears. And some of the poets took large flowers out of +vases and threw their petals all about the room, and others talked two +at a time and other sang. "Why they are only children after all," I +said. + +"Only children!" repeated the old witch who was pouring out cowslip +wine. + +_"Only_ children," said the old black cat. And every one laughed at +me. + +"I sincerely apologize," I said. "I did not mean to say it. I did +not intend to insult any one." + +"Why he knows nothing at all," said the old black cat. And everybody +laughed till the poets were put to bed. + +And then I took one look at the fields we know, and turned to the +other window that looks on the elfin mountains. And the evening +looked like a sapphire. And I saw my way though the fields were +growing dim, and when I found it I went downstairs and through the +witch's parlour, and out of doors and came that night to the palace of +Singanee. + +Lights glittered through every crystal slab--and all were +uncurtained--in the palace of ivory. The sounds were those of a +triumphant dance. Very haunting indeed was the booming of a bassoon, +and like the dangerous advance of some galloping beast were the blows +wielded by a powerful man on the huge, sonourous drum. It seemed to +me as I listened that the contest of Singanee with the more than +elephantine destroyer of Perdóndaris had already been set to music. +And as I walked in the dark along the amethyst precipice I suddenly +saw across it a curved white bridge. It was one ivory tusk. And I +knew it for the triumph of Singanee. I knew at once that this curved +mass of ivory that had been dragged by ropes to bridge the abyss was +the twin of the ivory gate that once Perdóndaris had, and had itself +been the destruction of that once famous city--towers and walls and +people. Already men had begun to hollow it and to carve human figures +life-size along its sides. I walked across it; and half way across, +at the bottom of the curve, I met a few of the carvers fast asleep. On +the opposite cliff by the palace lay the thickest end of the tusk and +I came down a ladder which leaned against the tusk for they had not +yet carved steps. + +Outside the ivory palace it was as I had supposed and the sentry at +the gate slept heavily; and though I asked of him permission to enter +the palace he only muttered a blessing on Singanee and fell asleep +again. It was evident that he had been drinking bak. Inside the ivory +hall I met with servitors who told me that any stranger was welcome +there that night, because they extolled the triumph of Singanee. And +they offered me bak to drink to commemorate the splendour but I did +not know its power nor whether a little or much prevailed over a man +so I said that I was under an oath to a god to drink nothing +beautiful; and they asked me if he could not be appeased by a prayer, +and I said, "In nowise," and went towards the dance; and they +commiserated me and abused that god bitterly, thinking to please me +thereby, and then they fell to drinking bak to the glory of Singanee. +Outside the curtains that hung before the dance there stood a +chamberlain and when I told him that though a stranger there, yet I +was well known to Mung and Sish and Kib, the gods of Pegana, whose +signs I made, he bade me ample welcome. Therefore I questioned him +about my clothes asking if they were not unsuitable to so august an +occasion and he swore by the spear that had slain the destroyer of +Perdóndaris that Singanee would think it a shameful thing that any +stranger not unknown to the gods should enter the dancing hall +unsuitably clad; and therefore he led me to another room and took +silken robes out of an old sea-chest of black and seamy oak with green +copper hasps that were set with a few pale sapphires, and requested me +to choose a suitable robe. And I chose a bright green robe, with an +under-robe of light blue which was seen here and there, and a light +blue sword-belt. I also wore a cloak that was dark purple with two +thin strips of dark-blue along the border and a row of large dark +sapphires sewn along the purple between them; it hung down from my +shoulders behind me. Nor would the chamberlain of Singanee let me +take any less than this, for he said that not even a stranger, on that +night, could be allowed to stand in the way of his master's +munificence which he was pleased to exercise in honour of his victory. +As soon as I was attired we went to the dancing hall and the first +thing that I saw in that tall, scintillant chamber was the huge form +of Singanee standing among the dancers and the heads of the men no +higher than his waist. Bare were the huge arms that had held the +spear that had avenged Perdóndaris. The chamberlain led me to him and +I bowed, and said that I gave thanks to the gods to whom he looked for +protection; and he said that he had heard my gods well spoken of by +those accustomed to pray but this he said only of courtesy, for he +knew not whom they were. + +Singanee was simply dressed and only wore on his head a plain gold +band to keep his hair from falling over his forehead, the ends of the +gold were tied in the back with a bow of purple silk. But all his +queens wore crowns of great magnificence, though whether they were +crowned as the queens of Singanee or whether queens were attracted +there from the thrones of distant lands by the wonder of him and the +splendour I did not know. + +All there wore silken robes of brilliant colours and the feet of all +were bare and very shapely for the custom of boots was unknown in +those regions. And when they saw that my big toes were deformed in +the manner of Europeans, turning inwards towards the others instead of +being straight, one or two asked sympathetically if an accident had +befallen me. And rather than tell them truly that deforming out big +toes was our custom and our pleasure I told them that I was under the +curse of a malignant god at whose feet I had neglected to offer +berries in infancy. And to some extent I justified myself, for +Convention is a god though his ways are evil; and had I told them the +truth I would not have been understood. They gave me a lady to dance +with who was of marvellous beauty, she told me that her name was +Saranoora, a princess from the North, who had been sent as tribute to +the palace of Singanee. And partly she danced as Europeans dance and +partly as the fairies of the waste who lure, as legend has it, lost +travellers to their doom. And if I could get thirty heathen men out of +fantastic lands, with their long black hair and little elfin eyes and +instruments of music even unknown to Nebuchadnezzar the King; and if I +could make them play those tunes that I heard in the ivory palace on +some lawn, gentle reader, at evening near your house then you would +understand the beauty of Saranoora and the blaze of light and colour +in that stupendous hall and the lithesome movement of those mysterious +queens that danced round Singanee. Then gentle reader you would be +gentle no more but the thoughts that run like leopards over the far +free lands would come leaping into your head even were it London, yes, +even in London: you would rise up then and beat your hands on the wall +with its pretty pattern of flowers, in the hope that the bricks might +break and reveal the way to that palace of ivory by the amethyst gulf +where the golden dragons are. For there have been men who have burned +prisons down that the prisoners might escape, and even such +incendiaries those dark musicians are who dangerously burn down custom +that the pining thoughts may go free. Let your elders have no fear, +have no fear. I will not play those tunes in any streets we know. I +will not bring those strange musicians here, I will only whisper the +way to the Lands of Dream, and only a few frail feet shall find the +way, and I shall dream alone of the beauty of Saranoora and sometimes +sigh. We danced on and on at the will of the thirty musicians, but +when the stars were paling and the wind that knew the dawn was +ruffling up the edge of the skirts of night, then Saranoora the +princess of the North led me out into a garden. Dark groves of trees +were there which filled the night with perfume and guarded night's +mysteries from the arising dawn. There floated over us, wandering in +that garden, the triumphant melody of those dark musicians, whose +origin was unguessed even by those that dwelt there and knew the Lands +of Dream. For only a moment once sang the tolulu-bird, for the +festival of that night had scared him and he was silent. For only a +moment once we heard him singing in some far grove because the +musicians rested and our bare feet made no sound; for a moment we +heard that bird of which once our nightingale dreamed and handed on +the tradition to his children. And Saranoora told me that they have +named the bird the Sister of Song; but for the musicians, who +presently played again, she said they had no name, for no one knew who +they were or from what country. Then some one sang quite near us in +the darkness to an instrument of strings telling of Singanee and his +battle against the monster. And soon we saw him sitting on the ground +and singing to the night of that spear-thrust that had found the +thumping heart of the destroyer of Perdóndaris; and we stopped awhile +and asked him who had seen so memorable a struggle and he answered +none but Singanee and he whose tusk had scattered Perdóndaris, and now +the last was dead. And when we asked him if Singanee had told him of +the struggle he said that that proud hunter would say no word about it +and that therefore his mighty deed was given to the poets and become +their trust forever, and he struck again his instrument of strings and +sang on. + +When the strings of pearls that hung down from her neck began to gleam +all over Saranoora I knew that dawn was near and that that memorable +night was all but gone. And at last we left the garden and came to +the abyss to see the sunrise shine on the amethyst cliff. And at first +it lit up the beauty of Saranoora and then it topped the world and +blazed upon those cliffs of amethyst until it dazzled our eyes, and we +turned from it and saw the workman going out along the tusk to hollow +it and to carve a balustrade of fair professional figures. And those +who had drunken bak began to awake and to open their dazzled eyes at +the amethyst precipice and to rub them and turn them away. And now +those wonderful kingdoms of song that the dark musicians established +all night by magical chords dropped back again to the sway of that +ancient silence who ruled before the gods, and the musicians wrapped +their cloaks about them and covered up their marvellous instruments +and stole away to the plains; and no one dared ask them whither they +went or why they dwelt there, or what god they served. And the dance +stopped and all the queens departed. And then the female slave came +out again by a door and emptied her basket of sapphires down the abyss +as I saw her do before. Beautiful Saranoora said that those great +queens would never wear their sapphires more than once and that every +day at noon a merchant from the mountains sold new ones for that +evening. Yet I suspected that something more than extravagance lay at +the back of that seemingly wasteful act of tossing sapphires into an +abyss, for there were in the depths of it those two dragons of gold of +whom nothing seemed to be known. And I thought, and I think so still, +that Singanee, terrific though he was in war with the elephants, from +whose tusks he had built his palace, well knew and even feared those +dragons in the abyss, and perhaps valued those priceless jewels less +than he valued his queens, and that he to whom so many lands paid +beautiful tribute out of their dread of his spear, himself paid +tribute to the golden dragons. Whether those dragons had wings I could +not see; nor, if they had, could I tell if they could bear that weight +of solid gold from the abyss; nor by what paths they could crawl from +it did I know. And I know not what use to a golden dragon should +sapphires be or a queen. Only it seemed strange to me that so much +wealth of jewels should be thrown by command of a man who had nothing +to fear--to fall flashing and changing their colours at dawn into an +abyss. + +I do not know how long we lingered there watching the sunrise on those +miles of amethyst. And it is strange that that great and famous +wonder did not move me more than it did, but my mind was dazzled by +the fame of it and my eyes were actually dazzled by the blaze, and as +often happens I thought more of little things and remember watching +the daylight in the solitary sapphire that Saranoora had and that she +wore upon her finger in a ring. Then, the dawn wind being all about +her, she said that she was cold and turned back into the ivory palace. +And I feared that we might never meet again, for time moves +differently over the Lands of Dream than over the fields we know; like +ocean-currents going different ways and bearing drifting ships. And +at the doorway of the ivory palace I turned to say farewell and yet I +found no words that were suitable to say. And often now when I stand +in other lands I stop and think of many things to have said; yet all I +said was "Perhaps we shall meet again." And she said that it was +likely that we should often meet for that this was a little thing for +the gods to permit not knowing that the gods of the Lands of Dream +have little power upon the fields we know. Then she went in through +the doorway. And having exchanged for my own clothes again the raiment +that the chamberlain had given me I turned from the hospitality of +mighty Singanee and set my face towards the fields we know. I crossed +that enormous tusk that had been the end of Perdóndaris and met the +artists carving it as I went; and some by way of greeting as I passed +extolled Singanee, and in answer I gave honour to his name. Daylight +had not yet penetrated wholly to the bottom of the abyss but the +darkness was giving place to a purple haze and I could faintly see one +golden dragon there. Then looking once towards the ivory palace, and +seeing no one at the windows, I turned sorrowfully away, and going by +the way that I knew passed through the gap in the mountains and down +their slopes till I came again in sight of the witch's cottage. And +as I went to the upper window to look for the fields we know, the +witch spoke to me; but I was cross, as one newly waked from sleep, and +I would not answer her. Then the cat questioned me as to whom I had +met, and I answered him that in the fields we know cats kept their +place and did not speak to man. And then I came downstairs and walked +straight out of the door, heading for Go-by Street. "You are going +the wrong way," the witch called through the window; and indeed I had +no sooner gone back to the ivory palace again, but I had no right to +trespass any further on the hospitality of Singanee and one cannot +stay always in the Lands of Dream, and what knowledge had that old +witch of the call of the fields we know or the little though many +snares that bind our feet therein? So I paid no heed to her, but kept +on, and came to Go-by Street. I saw the house with the green door +some way up the street but thinking that the near end of the street +was closer to the Embankment where I had left my boat I tried the +first door I came to, a cottage thatched like the rest, with little +golden spires along the roof-ridge, and strange birds sitting there +and preening marvellous feathers. The door opened, and to my surprise +I found myself in what seemed like a shepherd's cottage; a man who was +sitting on a log of wood in a little low dark room said something to +me in an alien language. I muttered something and hurried through to +the street. The house was thatched in front as well as behind. There +were not golden spires in front, no marvellous birds; but there was no +pavement. There was a row of houses, byres, and barns but no other +sign of a town. Far off I saw one or two little villages. Yet there +was the river--and no doubt the Thames, for it was the width of the +Thames and had the curves of it, if you can imagine the Thames in that +particular spot without a city around it, without any bridges, and the +Embankment fallen in. I saw that there had happened to me permanently +and in the light of day some such thing as happens to a man, but to a +child more often, when he awakes before morning in some strange room +and sees a high, grey window where the door ought to be and unfamiliar +objects in wrong places and though knowing where he is yet knows not +how it can be that the place should look like that. + +A flock of sheep came by me presently looking the same as ever, but +the man who led them had a wild, strange look. I spoke to him and he +did not understand me. Then I went down to the river to see if my +boat was there and at the very spot where I had left it, in the mud +(for the tide was low) I saw a half-buried piece of blackened wood +that might have been part of a boat, but I could not tell. I began to +feel that I had missed the world. It would be a strange thing to +travel from far away to see London and not be able to find it among +all the roads that lead there, but I seemed to have travelled in Time +and to have missed it among the centuries. And when as I wandered +over the grassy hills I came on a wattled shrine that was thatched +with straw and saw a lion in it more worn with time than even the +Sphinx at Gizeh and when I knew it for one of the four in Trafalgar +Square then I saw that I was stranded far away in the future with many +centuries of treacherous years between me and anything that I had +known. And then I sat on the grass by the worn paws of the lion to +think out what to do. And I decided to go back through Go-by Street +and, since there was nothing left to keep me any more to the fields we +know, to offer myself as a servant in the palace of Singanee, and to +see again the face of Saranoora and those famous, wonderful, +amethystine dawns upon the abyss where the golden dragons play. And I +stayed no longer to look for remains of the ruins of London; for there +is little pleasure in seeing wonderful things if there is no one at +all to hear of them and to wonder. So I returned at once to Go-by +Street, the little row of huts, and saw no other record that London +had been except that one stone lion. I went to the right house this +time. It was very much altered and more like one of those huts that +one sees on Salisbury plain than a shop in the city of London, but I +found it by counting the houses in the street for it was still a row +of houses though pavement and city were gone. And it was still a shop. +A very different shop to the one I knew, but things were for sale +there--shepherd's crooks, food, and rude axes. And a man with long +hair was there who was clad in skins. I did not speak to him for I did +not know his language. He said to me something that sounded like +"Everkike." It conveyed no meaning to me; but when he looked towards +one of his buns, light suddenly dawned in my mind, and I knew that +England was even England still and that still she was not conquered, +and that though they had tired of London they still held to their +land; for the words that the man had said were, "Av er kike," and then +I knew that that very language that was carried to distant lands by +the old, triumphant cockney was spoken still in his birthplace and +that neither his politics nor his enemies had destroyed him after all +these thousand years. I had always disliked the Cockney dialect--and +with the arrogance of the Irishman who hears from rich and poor the +English of the splendour of Elizabeth; and yet when I heard those +words my eyes felt sore as with impending tears--it should be +remembered how far away I was. I think I was silent for a little +while. Suddenly I saw that the man who kept the shop was asleep. +That habit was strangely like the ways of a man who if he were then +alive would be (if I could judge from the time-worn look of the lion) +over a thousand years old. But then how old was I? It is perfectly +clear that Time moves over the Lands of Dream swifter or slower than +over the fields we know. For the dead, and the long dead, live again +in our dreams; and a dreamer passes through the events of days in a +single moment of the Town-Hall's clock. Yet logic did not aid me and +my mind was puzzled. While the old man slept--and strangely like in +face he was to the old man who had shown me first the little, old +backdoor--I went to the far end of his wattled shop. There was a door +of a sort on leather hinges. I pushed it open and there I was again +under the notice-board at the back of the shop, at least the back of +Go-by Street had not changed. Fantastic and remote though this grass +street was with its purple flowers and the golden spires, and the +world ending at its opposite pavement, yet I breathed more happily to +see something again that I had seen before. I thought I had lost +forever the world I knew, and now that I was at the back of Go-by +Street again I felt the loss less than when I was standing where +familiar things ought to be; and I turned my mind to what was left me +in the vast Lands of Dream and thought of Saranoora. And when I saw +the cottages again I felt less lonely even at the thought of the cat +though he generally laughed at the things I said. And the first thing +that I saw when I saw the witch was that I had lost the world and was +going back for the rest of my days to the palace of Singanee. And the +first thing that she said was: "Why! You've been through the wrong +door," quite kindly for she saw how unhappy I looked. And I said, +"Yes, but it's all the same street. The whole street's altered and +London's gone and the people I used to know and the houses I used to +rest in, and everything; and I'm tired." + +"What did you want to go through the wrong door for?" she said. + +"O, that made no difference," I said. + +"O, didn't it?" she said in a contradictory way. + +"Well I wanted to get to the near end of the street so as to find my +boat quickly by the Embankment. And now my boat, and the Embankment +and--and----." + +"Some people are always in such a hurry," said the old black cat. And +I felt too unhappy to be angry and I said nothing more. + +And the old witch said, "Now which way do you want to go?" and she was +talking rather like a nurse to a small child. And I said, "I have +nowhere to go." + +And she said, "Would you rather go home or go to the ivory palace of +Singanee." And I said, "I've got a headache, and I don't want to go +anywhere, and I'm tired of the Lands of Dream." + +"Then suppose you try going in through the right door," she said. + +"That's no good," I said. "Everyone's dead and gone, and they're +selling buns there." + +"What do you know about Time?" she said. + +"Nothing," answered the old, black cat, though nobody spoke to him. + +"Run along," said the old witch. + +So I turned and trudged away to Go-by Street again. I was very tired. +"What does he know about anything?" said the old black cat behind me. +I knew what he was going to say next. He waited a moment and then +said, "Nothing." When I looked over my shoulder he was strutting back +to the cottage. And when I got to Go-by Street I listlessly opened +the door through which I had just now come. I saw no use in doing it, +I just did wearily as I was told. And the moment I got inside I saw +it was just the same as of old, and the sleepy old man was there who +sold idols. And I bought a vulgar thing that I did not want, for the +sheer joy of seeing accustomed things. And when I turned from Go-by +Street which was just the same as ever, the first thing that I saw was +a taximeter running into a hansom cab. And I took off my hat and +cheered. And I went to the Embankment and there was my boat, and the +stately river full of dirty, accustomed things. And I rowed back and +bought a penny paper, (I had been away it seemed for one day) and I +read it from cover to cover--patent remedies for incurable illnesses +and all--and I determined to walk, as soon as I was rested, in all the +streets that I knew and to call on all the people that I had ever met, +and to be content for long with the fields we know. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Three Hemispheres, by Lord Dunsany + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11440 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c7f6007 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #11440 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11440) diff --git a/old/11440-8.txt b/old/11440-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f299e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11440-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3011 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Three Hemispheres, by Lord Dunsany + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tales of Three Hemispheres + +Author: Lord Dunsany + +Release Date: March 4, 2004 [EBook #11440] +[Last updated: October 8, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Harris, text provided by Litrix Reading Room. + + + + +TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES + +Lord Dunsany + + + +CONTENTS + +The Last Dream Of Bwona Khubla +How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant In Otford-under-the-Wold +The Prayer Of Boob Aheera +East And West +A Pretty Quarrel +How The Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning +The Gift Of The Gods +The Sack Of Emeralds +The Old Brown Coat +An Archive Of The Older Mysteries +A City Of Wonder + Beyond the Fields We Know + Publisher's Note + First Tale: Idle Days on the Yann + Second Tale: A Shop In Go-By Street + Third Tale: The Avenger Of Perdóndaris + +[Note that the tale "Idle Days on the Yann" also appears in the +collection "A Dreamer's Tales".] + + + + +THE LAST DREAM OF BWONA KHUBLA + +From steaming lowlands down by the equator, where monstrous orchids +blow, where beetles big as mice sit on the tent-ropes, and fireflies +glide about by night like little moving stars, the travelers went +three days through forests of cactus till they came to the open plains +where the oryx are. + +And glad they were when they came to the water-hole, where only one +white man had gone before, which the natives know as the camp of Bwona +Khubla, and found the water there. + +It lies three days from the nearest other water, and when Bwona Khubla +had gone there three years ago, what with malaria with which he was +shaking all over, and what with disgust at finding the water-hole dry, +he had decided to die there, and in that part of the world such +decisions are always fatal. In any case he was overdue to die, but +hitherto his amazing resolution, and that terrible strength of +character that so astounded his porters, had kept him alive and moved +his safari on. + +He had had a name no doubt, some common name such as hangs as likely +as not over scores of shops in London; but that had gone long ago, and +nothing identified his memory now to distinguish it from the memories +of all the other dead but "Bwona Khubla," the name the Kikuyus gave +him. + +There is not doubt that he was a fearful man, a man that was dreaded +still for his personal force when his arm was no longer able to lift +the kiboko, when all his men knew he was dying, and to this day though +he is dead. + +Though his temper was embittered by malaria and the equatorial sun, +nothing impaired his will, which remained a compulsive force to the +very last, impressing itself upon all, and after the last, from what +the Kikuyus say. The country must have had powerful laws that drove +Bwona Khubla out, whatever country it was. + +On the morning of the day that they were to come to the camp of Bwona +Khubla all the porters came to the travelers' tents asking for dow. +Dow is the white man's medicine, that cures all evils; the nastier it +tastes, the better it is. They wanted down this morning to keep away +devils, for they were near the place where Bwona Khubla died. + +The travelers gave them quinine. + +By sunset the came to Campini Bwona Khubla and found water there. Had +they not found water many of them must have died, yet none felt any +gratitude to the place, it seemed too ominous, too full of doom, too +much harassed almost by unseen, irresistible things. + +And all the natives came again for dow as soon as the tents were +pitched, to protect them from the last dreams of Bwona Khubla, which +they say had stayed behind when the last safari left taking Bwona +Khubla's body back to the edge of civilization to show to the white +men there that they had not killed him, for the white men might not +know that they durst not kill Bwona Khubla. + +And the travelers gave them more quinine, so much being bad for the +nerves, and that night by the camp-fires there was no pleasant talk; +all talking at once of meat they had eaten and cattle that each one +owned, but a gloomy silence hung by every fire and the little canvas +shelters. They told the white men that Bwona Khubla's city, of which +he had thought at the last (and where the natives believed he was once +a king), of which he had raved till the loneliness rang with his +raving, had settled down all about them; and they were afraid, for it +was so strange a city, and wanted more dow. And the two travelers +gave them more quinine, for they saw real fear in their faces, and +knew they might run away and leave them alone in that place, that +they, too, had come to fear with an almost equal dread, though they +knew not why. And as the night wore on their feeling of boding +deepened, although they had shared three bottles or so of champagne +that they meant to keep for days when they killed a lion. + +This is the story that each of those two men tell, and which their +porters corroborate, but then a Kikuyu will always say whatever he +thinks is expected of him. + +The travelers were both in bed and trying to sleep but not able to do +so because of an ominous feeling. That mournfullest of all the cries +of the wild, the hyæna like a damned soul lamenting, strangely enough +had ceased. The night wore on to the hour when Bwona Khubla had died +three or four years ago, dreaming and raving of "his city"; and in the +hush a sound softly arose, like a wind at first, then like the roar of +beasts, then unmistakably the sound of motors--motors and motor +busses. + +And then they saw, clearly and unmistakably they say, in that lonely +desolation where the equator comes up out of the forest and climbs +over jagged hills,--they say they saw London. + +There could have been no moon that night, but they say there was a +multitude of stars. Mists had come rolling up at evening about the +pinnacles of unexplored red peaks that clustered round the camp. But +they say the mist must have cleared later on; at any rate they swear +they could see London, see it and hear the roar of it. Both say they +saw it not as they knew it at all, not debased by hundreds of +thousands of lying advertisements, but transfigured, all its houses +magnificent, its chimneys rising grandly into pinnacles, its vast +squares full of the most gorgeous trees, transfigured and yet London. + +Its windows were warm and happy, shining at night, the lamps in their +long rows welcomed you, the public-houses were gracious jovial places; +yet it was London. + +They could smell the smells of London, hear London songs, and yet it +was never the London that they knew; it was as though they had looked +on some strange woman's face with the eyes of her lover. For of all +the towns of the earth or cities of song; of all the spots there be, +unhallowed or hallowed, it seemed to those two men then that the city +they saw was of all places the most to be desired by far. They say a +barrel organ played quite near them, they say a coster was singing, +they admit that he was singing out of tune, they admit a cockney +accent, and yet they say that that song had in it something that no +earthly song had ever had before, and both men say that they would +have wept but that there was a feeling about their heartstrings that +was far too deep for tears. They believe that the longing of this +masterful man, that was able to rule a safari by raising a hand, had +been so strong at the last that it had impressed itself deeply upon +nature and had caused a mirage that may not fade wholly away, perhaps +for several years. + +I tried to establish by questions the truth or reverse of this story, +but the two men's tempers had been so spoiled by Africa that they were +not up to cross-examination. They would not even say if their +camp-fires were still burning. They say that they saw the London +lights all round them from eleven o'clock till midnight, they could +hear London voices and the sound of the traffic clearly, and over +all, a little misty perhaps, but unmistakably London, arose the great +metropolis. + +After midnight London quivered a little and grew more indistinct, the +sound of the traffic began to dwindle away, voices seemed farther off, +ceased altogether, and all was quiet once more where the mirage +shimmered and faded, and a bull rhinoceros coming down through the +stillness snorted, and watered at the Carlton Club. + + + + +HOW THE OFFICE OF POSTMAN FELL VACANT IN OTFORD-UNDER-THE-WOLD + +The duties of postman at Otford-under-the-Wold carried Amuel Sleggins +farther afield than the village, farther afield than the last house in +the lane, right up to the big bare wold and the house where no one +went, no one that is but the three grim men that dwelt there and the +secretive wife of one, and, once a year when the queer green letter +came, Amuel Sleggins the postman. + +The green letter always came just as the leaves were turning, +addressed to the eldest of the three grim men, with a wonderful +Chinese stamp and the Otford post-mark, and Amuel Sleggins carried it +up to the house. + +He was not afraid to go, for he always took the letter, had done so +for seven years, yet whenever summer began to draw to a close, Amuel +Sleggins was ill at ease, and if there was a touch of autumn about +shivered unduly so that all folk wondered. + +And then one day a wind would blow from the East, and the wild geese +would appear, having left the sea, flying high and crying strangely, +and pass till they were no more than a thin black line in the sky like +a magical stick flung up by a doer of magic, twisting and twirling +away; and the leaves would turn on the trees and the mists be white on +the marshes and the sun set large and red and autumn would step down +quietly that night from the wold; and the next day the strange green +letter would come from China. + +His fear of the three grim men and that secretive woman and their +lonely, secluded house, or else the cadaverous cold of the dying +season, rather braced Amuel when the time was come and he would step +out bolder upon the day that he feared than he had perhaps for weeks. +He longed on that day for a letter for the last house in the lane, +there he would dally and talk awhile and look on church-going faces +before his last tramp over the lonely wold to end at the dreaded door +of the queer grey house called wold-hut. + +When he came to the door of wold-hut he would give the postman's knock +as though he came on ordinary rounds to a house of every day, although +no path led up to it, although the skins of weasels hung thickly from +upper windows. + +And scarcely had his postman's knock rung through the dark of the +house when the eldest of the three grim men would always run to the +door. O, what a face had he. There was more slyness in it than ever +his beard could hide. He would put out a gristly hand; and into it +Amuel Sleggins would put the letter from China, and rejoice that his +duty was done, and would turn and stride away. And the fields lit up +before him, but, ominous, eager and low murmuring arose in the +wold-hut. + +For seven years this was so and no harm had come to Sleggins, seven +times he had gone to wold-hut and as often come safely away; and then +he needs must marry. Perhaps because she was young, perhaps because +she was fair or because she had shapely ankles as she came one day +through the marshes among the milkmaid flowers shoeless in spring. +Less things than these have brought men to their ends and been the +nooses with which Fate snared them running. With marriage curiosity +entered his house, and one day as they walked with evening through the +meadows, one summer evening, she asked him of wold-hut where he only +went, and what the folks were like that no one else had seen. All this +he told her; and then she asked him of the green letter from China, +that came with autumn, and what the letter contained. He read to her +all the rules of the Inland Revenue, he told her he did not know, that +it was not right that he should know, he lectured her on the sin of +inquisitiveness, he quoted Parson, and in the end she said that she +must know. They argued concerning this for many days, days of the +ending of summer, of shortening evenings, and as they argued autumn +grew nearer and nearer and the green letter from China. + +And at last he promised that when the green letter came he would take +it as usual to the lonely house and then hide somewhere near and creep +to the window at nightfall and hear what the grim folk said; perhaps +they might read aloud the letter from China. And before he had time +to repent of that promise a cold wind came one night and the woods +turned golden, the plover went in bands at evening over the marshes, +the year had turned, and there came the letter from China. Never +before had Amuel felt such misgivings as he went his postman's rounds, +never before had he so much feared the day that took him up to the +wold and the lonely house, while snug by the fire his wife looked +pleasurably forward to curiosity's gratification and hoped to have +news ere nightfall that all the gossips of the village would envy. +One consolation only had Amuel as he set out with a shiver, there was +a letter that day for the last house in the lane. Long did he tarry +there to look at their cheery faces, to hear the sound of their +laughter--you did not hear laughter in wold-hut--and when the last +topic had been utterly talked out and no excuse for lingering remained +he heaved a heavy sigh and plodded grimly away and so came late to +wold-hut. + +He gave his postman's knock on the shut oak door, heard it reverberate +through the silent house, saw the grim elder man and his gristly hand, +gave up the green letter from China, and strode away. There is a clump +of trees growing all alone in the wold, desolate, mournful, by day, by +night full of ill omen, far off from all other trees as wold-hut from +other houses. Near it stands wold-hut. Not today did Amuel stride +briskly on with all the new winds of autumn blowing cheerily past him +till he saw the village before him and broke into song; but as soon as +he was out of sight of the house he turned and stooping behind a fold +of the ground ran back to the desolate wood. There he waited watching +the evil house, just too far to hear voices. The sun was low already. +He chose the window at which he meant to eavesdrop, a little barred +one at the back, close to the ground. And then the pigeons came in; +for a great distance there was no other wood, so numbers shelter +there, though the clump is small and of so evil a look (if they notice +that); the first one frightened Amuel, he felt that it might be a +spirit escaped from torture in some dim parlour of the house that he +watched, his nerves were strained and he feared foolish fears. Then +he grew used to them and the sun set then and the aspect of everything +altered and he felt strange fears again. Behind him was a hollow in +the wold, he watched it darkening; and before him he saw the house +through the trunks of the trees. He waited for them to light their +lamps so that they could not see, when he would steal up softly and +crouch by the little back window. But though every bird was home, +though the night grew chilly as tombs, though a star was out, still +there shone no yellow light from any window. Amuel waited and +shuddered. He did not dare to move till they lit their lamps, they +might be watching. The damp and the cold so strangely affected him +that autumn evening and the remnants of sunset, the stars and the wold +and the whole vault of the sky seemed like a hall that they had +prepared for Fear. He began to feel a dread of prodigious things, and +still no light shone in the evil house. It grew so dark that he +decided to move and make his way to the window in spite of the +stillness and though the house was dark. He rose and while standing +arrested by pains that cramped his limbs, he heard the door swing open +on the far side of the house. He had just time to hide behind the +trunk of a pine when the three grim men approached him and the woman +hobbled behind. Right to the ominous clump of trees they came as +though they loved their blackness, passed through within a yard or two +of the postman and squatted down on their haunches in a ring in the +hollow behind the trees. They lit a fire in the hollow and laid a kid +on the fire and by the light of it Amuel saw brought forth from an +untanned pouch the letter that came from China. The elder opened it +with his gristly hand and intoning words that Amuel did not know, drew +out from it a green powder and sprinkled it on the fire. At once a +flame arose and a wonderful savour, the flames rose higher and +flickered turning the trees all green; and Amuel saw the gods coming +to snuff the savour. While the three grim men prostrated themselves by +their fire, and the horrible woman that was the spouse of one, he saw +the gods coming gauntly over the wold, beheld the gods of Old England +hungrily snuffing the savour, Odin, Balder, and Thor, the gods of the +ancient people, beheld them eye to eye clear and close in the +twilight, and the office of postman fell vacant in +Otford-under-the-Wold. + + + + +THE PRAYER OF BOOB AHEERA + +In the harbour, between the liner and the palms, as the huge ship's +passengers came up from dinner, at moonrise, each in his canoe, Ali +Kareeb Ahash and Boob Aheera passed within knife thrust. + +So urgent was the purpose of Ali Kareeb Ahash that he did not lean +over as his enemy slid by, did not tarry then to settle that long +account; but that Boob Aheera made no attempt to reach him was a +source of wonder to Ali. He pondered it till the liner's electric +lights shone far away behind him with one blaze and the canoe was near +to his destination, and pondered it in vain, for all that the eastern +subtlety of his mind was able to tell him clearly was that it was not +like Boob Aheera to pass him like that. + +That Boob Aheera could have dared to lay such a cause as his before +the Diamond Idol Ali had not conceived, yet as he drew near to the +golden shrine in the palms, that none that come by the great ships +ever found, he began to see more clearly in his mind that this was +where Boob had gone on that hot night. And when he beached his canoe +his fears departed, giving place to the resignation with which he +always viewed Destiny; for there on the white sea sand were the tracks +of another canoe, the edges all fresh and ragged. Boob Aheera had +been before him. Ali did not blame himself for being late, the thing +had been planned before the beginning of time, by gods that knew their +business; only his hate of Boob Aheera increased, his enemy against +whom he had come to pray. And the more his hate increased the more +clearly he saw him, until nothing else could be seen by the eye of his +mind but the dark lean figure, the little lean legs, the grey beard +and neat loin-cloth of Boob Aheera, his enemy. + +That the Diamond Idol should have granted the prayers of such a one he +did not as yet imagine, he hated him merely for his presumptuousness +in approaching the shrine at all, for approaching it before him whose +cause was righteous, for many an old past wrong, but most of all for +the expression of his face and the general look of the man as he has +swept by in his canoe with his double paddle going in the moonlight. + +Ali pushed through the steaming vegetation. The place smelt of +orchids. There is no track to the shrine though many go. If there +were a track the white man would one day find it, and parties would +row to see it whenever a liner came in; and photographs would appear +in weekly papers with accounts of it underneath by men who had never +left London, and all the mystery would be gone away and there would be +nothing novel in this story. + +Ali had scarcely gone a hundred yards through cactus and creeper +underneath the palms when he came to the golden shrine that nothing +guards except the deeps of the forest, and found the Diamond Idol. The +Diamond Idol is five inches high and its base a good inch square, and +it has a greater lustre than those diamonds that Mr. Moses bought last +year for his wife, when he offered her an earldom or the diamonds, and +Jael his wife had answered, "Buy the diamonds and be just plain Mr. +Fortescue." + +Purer than those was its luster and carved as they carve not in +Europe, and the men thereby are poor and held to be fearless--yet they +do not sell that idol. And I may say here that if any one of my +readers should ever come by ship to the winding harbour where the +forts of the Portuguese crumble in infinite greenery, where the baobab +stands like a corpse here and there in the palms, if he goes ashore +where no one has any business to go, and where no one so far as I know +has gone from a liner before (though it's little more than a mile or +so from the pier), and if he finds a golden shrine, which is near +enough to the shore, and a five-inch diamond in it carved in the shape +of a god, it is better to leave it alone and get back safe to the ship +than to sell that diamond idol for any price in the world. + +Ali Kareeb Ahash went into the golden shrine, and when he raised his +head from the seven obeisances that are the due of the idol, behold! +it glowed with such a lustre as only it wears after answering recent +prayer. No native of those parts mistakes the tone of the idol, they +know its varying shades as a tracker knows blood; the moon was +streaming in through the open door and Ali saw it clearly. + +No one had been that night but Boob Aheera. + +The fury of Ali rose and surged to his heart, he clutched his knife +till the hilt of it bruised his hand, yet he did not utter the prayer +that he had made ready about Boob Aheera's liver, for he saw that Boob +Aheera's prayers were acceptable to the idol and knew that divine +protection was over his enemy. + +What Boob Aheera's prayer was he did not know, but he went back to the +beach as fast as one can go through cacti and creepers that climb to +the tops of the palms; and as fast as his canoe could carry him he +went down the winding harbour, till the liner shone beside him as he +passed, and he heard the sound of its band rise up and die, and he +landed and came that night into Boob Aheera's hut. And there he +offered himself as his enemy's slave, and Boob Aheera's slave he is to +this day, and his master has protection from the idol. And Ali rows +to the liners and goes on board to sell rubies made of glass, and thin +suits for the tropics and ivory napkin rings, and Manchester kimonos, +and little lovely shells; and the passengers abuse him because of his +prices; and yet they should not, for all the money cheated by Ali +Kareeb Ahash goes to Boob Aheera, his master. + + + + +EAST AND WEST + +It was dead of night and midwinter. A frightful wind was bringing +sleet from the East. The long sere grasses were wailing. Two specks +of light appeared on the desolate plain; a man in a hansom cab was +driving alone in North China. + +Alone with the driver and the dejected horse. The driver wore a good +waterproof cape, and of course an oiled silk hat, but the man in the +cab wore nothing but evening dress. He did not have the glass door +down because the horse fell so frequently, the sleet had put his cigar +out and it was too cold to sleep; the two lamps flared in the wind. +By the uncertain light of a candle lamp that flickered inside the cab, +a Manchu shepherd that saw the vehicle pass, where he watched his +sheep on the plain in fear of the wolves, for the first time saw +evening dress. And though he saw if dimly, and what he saw was wet, +it was like a backward glance of a thousand years, for as his +civilization is so much older than ours they have presumably passed +through all that kind of thing. + +He watched it stoically, not wondering at a new thing, if indeed it be +new to China, meditated on it awhile in a manner strange to us, and +when he had added to his philosophy what little could be derived from +the sight of this hansom cab, returned to his contemplation of that +night's chances of wolves and to such occasional thoughts as he drew +at times for his comfort out of the legends of China, that have been +preserved for such uses. And on such a night their comfort was +greatly needed. He thought of the legend of a dragon-lady, more fair +than the flowers are, without an equal amongst daughters of men, +humanly lovely to look on although her sire was a dragon, yet one who +traced his descent from gods of the elder days, and so it was that she +went in all her ways divine, like the earliest ones of her race, who +were holier than the emperor. + +She had come down one day out of her little land, a grassy valley +hidden amongst the mountains; by the way of the mountain passes she +came down, and the rocks of the rugged pass rang like little bells +about her, as her bare feet went by, like silver bells to please her; +and the sound was like the sound of the dromedaries of a prince when +they come home at evening--their silver bells are ringing and the +village-folk are glad. She had come down to pick the enchanted poppy +that grew, and grows to this day--if only men might find it--in a +field at the feet of the mountains; if one should pick it happiness +would come to all yellow men, victory without fighting, good wages, +and ceaseless ease. She came down all fair from the mountains; and as +the legend pleasantly passed through his mind in the bitterest hour of +the night, which comes before dawn, two lights appeared and another +hansom went by. + +The man in the second cab was dressed the same as the first, he was +wetter than the first, for the sleet had fallen all night, but evening +dress is evening dress all the world over. The driver wore the same +oiled hat, the same waterproof cape as the other. And when the cab +had passed the darkness swirled back where the two small lamps had +been, and the slush poured into the wheel-tracks and nothing remained +but the speculations of the shepherd to tell that a hansom cab had +been in that part of China; presently even these ceased, and he was +back with the early legends again in contemplation of serener things. + +And the storm and the cold and the darkness made one last effort, and +shook the bones of that shepherd, and rattled the teeth in the head +that mused on the flowery fables, and suddenly it was morning. You +saw the outlines of the sheep all of a sudden, the shepherd counted +them, no wolf had come, you could see them all quite clearly. And in +the pale light of the earliest morning the third hansom appeared, with +its lamps still burning, looking ridiculous in the daylight. They came +out of the East with the sleet and were all going due westwards, and +the occupant of the third cab also wore evening dress. + +Calmly that Manchu shepherd, without curiosity, still less with +wonder, but as one who would see whatever life has to show him, stood +for four hours to see if another would come. The sleet and the East +wind continued. And at the end of four hours another came. The +driver was urging it on as fast as he could, as though he were making +the most of the daylight, his cabby's cape was flapping wildly about +him; inside the cab a man in evening dress was being jolted up and +down by the unevenness of the plain. + +This was of course that famous race from Pittsburg to Piccadilly, +going round by the long way, that started one night after dinner from +Mr. Flagdrop's house, and was won by Mr. Kagg, driving the Honourable +Alfred Fortescue, whose father it will be remembered was Hagar +Dermstein, and became (by Letters Patent) Sir Edgar Fortescue, and +finally Lord St. George. + +The Manchu shepherd stood there till evening, and when he saw that no +more cabs would come, turned homeward in search of food. + +And the rice prepared for him was hot and good, all the more after the +bitter coldness of that sleet. And when he had consumed it her +perused his experience, turning over again in his mind each detail of +the cabs he had seen; and from that his thoughts slipped calmly to the +glorious history of China, going back to the indecorous times before +calmness came, and beyond those times to the happy days of the earth +when the gods and dragons were here and China was young; and lighting +his opium pipe and casting his thoughts easily forward he looked to +the time when the dragons shall come again. + +And for a long while then his mind reposed itself in such a dignified +calm that no thought stirred there at all, from which when he was +aroused he cast off his lethargy as a man emerges from the baths, +refreshed, cleansed and contented, and put away from his musings the +things he had seen on the plain as being evil and of the nature of +dreams, or futile illusion, the results of activity which troubleth +calm. And then he turned his mind toward the shape of God, the One, +the Ineffable, who sits by the lotus lily, whose shape is the shape of +peace, and denieth activity, and went out his thanks to him that he +had cast all bad customs westward out of China as a woman throws +household dirt out of her basket far out into neighbouring gardens. + +From thankfulness he turned to calm again, and out of calm to sleep. + + + + +A PRETTY QUARREL + +On one of those unattained, and unattainable pinnacles that are known +as the Bleaks of Eerie, an eagle was looking East with a hopeful +presage of blood. + +For he knew, and rejoiced in the knowledge, that eastward over the +dells the dwarfs were risen in Ulk, and gone to war with the +demi-gods. + +The demi-gods are they that were born of earthly women, but their +sires are the elder gods who walked of old among men. Disguised they +would go through the villages sometimes in summer evenings, cloaked +and unknown of men; but the younger maidens knew them and always ran +to them singing, for all that their elders said: in evenings long ago +they had danced to the woods of the oak-trees. Their children dwelt +out-of-doors beyond the dells of the bracken, in the cool and heathery +lands, and were now at war with the dwarfs. + +Dour and grim were the demi-gods and had the faults of both parents, +and would not mix with men but claimed the right of their fathers, and +would not play human games but forever were prophesying, and yet were +more frivolous than their mothers were, whom the fairies had long +since buried in wild wood gardens with more than human rites. + +And being irked at their lack of rights and ill content with the land, +and having no power at all over the wind and snow, and caring little +for the powers they had, the demi-gods became idle, greasy, and slow; +and the contemptuous dwarfs despised them ever. + +The dwarfs were contemptuous of all things savouring of heaven, and of +everything that was even partly divine. They were, so it has been +said, of the seed of man; but, being squat and hairy like to the +beasts; they praised all beastly things, and bestiality was shown +reverence among them, so far as reverence was theirs to show. So most +of all they despised the discontent of the demi-gods, who dreamed of +the courts of heaven and power over wind and snow; for what better, +said the dwarfs, could demi-gods do than nose in the earth for roots +and cover their faces with mire, and run with the cheerful goats and +be even as they? + +Now in their idleness caused by their discontent, the seed of the gods +and the maidens grew more discontented still, and only spake of or +cared for heavenly things; until the contempt of the dwarfs, who heard +of all these doings, was bridled no longer and it must needs be war. +They burned spice, dipped in blood and dried, before the chief of +their witches, sharpening their axes, and made war on the demi-gods. + +They passed by night over the Oolnar Mountains, each dwarf with his +good axe, the old flint war-axe of his fathers, a night when no moon +shone, and they went unshod, and swiftly, to come on the demi-gods in +the darkness beyond the dells of Ulk, lying fat and idle and +contemptible. + +And before it was light they found the heathery lands, and the +demi-gods lying lazy all over the side of a hill. The dwarfs stole +towards them warily in the darkness. + +Now the art that the gods love most is the art of war: and when the +seed of the gods and those nimble maidens awoke and found it was war +it was almost as much to them as the godlike pursuits of heaven, +enjoyed in the marble courts; or power over wind and snow. They all +drew out at once their swords of tempered bronze, cast down to them +centuries since on stormy nights when their fathers, drew them and +faced the dwarfs, and casting their idleness from them, fell on them, +sword to axe. And the dwarfs fought hard that night, and bruised the +demi-gods sorely, hacking with those huge axes that had not spared the +oaks. Yet for all the weight of their blows and the cunning of their +adventure, one point they had overlooked: _the demi-gods were +immortal._ + +As the fight rolled on towards morning the fighters were fewer and +fewer, yet for all the blows of the dwarfs men fell upon one side +only. + +Dawn came and the demi-gods were fighting against no more than six, +and the hour that follows dawn, and the last of the dwarfs was gone. + +And when the light was clear on that peak of the Bleaks of Eerie the +eagle left his crag and flew grimly East, and found it was as he had +hoped in the matter of blood. + +But the demi-gods lay down in their heathery lands, for once content +though so far from the courts of heaven, and even half forgot their +heavenly rights, and sighed no more for power over wind and snow. + + + + +HOW THE GODS AVENGED MEOUL KI NING + +Meoul Ki Ning was on his way with a lily from the lotus ponds of Esh +to offer it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +on the road from the pond to the little hill and the temple Aoul +Keroon, Ap Ariph, his enemy, shot him with an arrow from a bow that he +had made out of bamboo, and took his pretty lily up the hill and +offered it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +the Goddess was pleased with the gift, as all women are, and sent +pleasant dreams to Ap Ariph for seven nights straight from the moon. + +And on the seventh night the gods held conclave together, on the +cloudy peaks they held it, above Narn, Ktoon, and Pti. So high their +peak arises that no man heard their voices. They spake on that cloudy +mountain (not the highest hamlet heard them). "What doth the Goddess +of Abundance," (but naming her Lling, as they name her), "what doth +she sending sweet dreams for seven nights to Ap Ariph?" + +And the gods sent for their seer who is all eyes and feet, running to +and fro on the Earth, observing the ways of men, seeing even their +littlest doings, never deeming a doing too little, but knowing the web +of the gods is woven of littlest things. He it is that sees the cat +in the garden of parakeets, the thief in the upper chamber, the sin of +the child with the honey, the women talking indoors and the small +hut's innermost things. Standing before the gods he told them the +case of Ap Ariph and the wrongs of Meoul Ki Ning and the rape of the +lotus lily; he told of the cutting and making of Ap Ariph's bamboo +bow, of the shooting of Meoul Ki Ning, and of how the arrow hit him, +and the smile on the face of Lling when she came by the lotus bloom. + +And the gods were wroth with Ap Ariph and swore to avenge Ki Ning. + +And the ancient one of the gods, he that is older than Earth, called +up the thunder at once, and raised his arms and cried out on the gods' +high windy mountain, and prophesied on those rocks with runes that +were older than speech, and sang in his wrath old songs that he had +learned in storm from the sea, when only that peak of the gods in the +whole of the earth was dry; and he swore that Ap Ariph should die that +night, and the thunder raged about him, and the tears of Lling were +vain. + +The lightning stroke of the gods leaping earthward seeking Ap Ariph +passed near to his house but missed him. A certain vagabond was down +from the hills, singing songs in the street near by the house of Ap +Ariph, songs of a former folk that dwelt once, they say, in those +valleys, and begging for rice and curds; it was him the lightning hit. + +And the gods were satisfied, and their wrath abated, and their thunder +rolled away and the great black clouds dissolved, and the ancient one +of the gods went back to his age-old sleep, and morning came, and the +birds and the light shone on the mountain, and the peak stood clear to +see, the serene home of the gods. + + + + +THE GIFT OF THE GODS + +There was once a man who sought a boon of the gods. For peace was +over the world and all things savoured of sameness, and the man was +weary at heart and sighed for the tents and the warfields. Therefore +he sought a boon of the ancient gods. And appearing before them he +said to them, "Ancient gods; there is peace in the land where I dwell, +and indeed to the uttermost parts, and we are full weary of peace. O +ancient gods, grant us war!" + +And the ancient gods made him a war. + +And the man went forth with his sword, and behold it was even war. And +the man remembered the little things that he knew, and thought of the +quiet days that there used to be, and at night on the hard ground +dreamed of the things of peace. And dearer and dearer grew the wonted +things, the dull but easeful things of the days of peace, and +remembering these he began to regret the war, and sought once more a +boon of the ancient gods, and appearing before them he said: "O +ancient gods, indeed but a man loves best the days of peace. Therefore +take back your war and give us peace, for indeed of all your +blessedness peace is best." + +And the man returned again to the haunts of peace. + +But in a while the man grew weary of peace, of the things that he used +to know, and the savour of sameness again; and sighing again for the +tents, and appearing once more to the gods, he said to them: "Ancient +gods; we do not love your peace, for indeed the days are dull, and a +man is best at war." + +And the gods made him a war. + +And there were drums again, the smoke of campfires again, wind in the +waste again, the sound of horses of war, burning cities again, and the +things that wanderers know; and the thoughts of that man went home to +the ways of peace; moss upon lawns again, light in old spires again, +sun upon gardens again, flowers in pleasant woods and sleep and the +paths of peace. + +And once more the man appeared to the ancient gods and sought from +them one more boon, and said to them: "Ancient gods; indeed but the +world and we are a-weary of war and long for the ancient ways and the +paths of peace." + +So the gods took back their war and gave him peace. + +But the man took counsel one day and communed long with himself and +said to himself: "Behold, the wishes I wish, which the gods grant, are +not to be much desired; and if the gods should one day grant a wish +and never revoke it, which is a way of the gods, I should be sorely +tried because of my wish; my wishes are dangerous wishes and not to be +desired." + +And therefore he wrote an anonymous letter to the gods, writing: "O +ancient gods; this man that hath four times troubled you with his +wishes, wishing for peace and war, is a man that hath no reverence for +the gods, speaking ill of them on days when they do not hear, and +speaking well of them on holy days and at the appointed hours when the +gods are hearkening to prayer. Therefore grant no more wishes to this +impious man." + +And the days of peace wore on and there arose again from the earth, +like mist in the autumn from the fields that generations have +ploughed, the savour of sameness again. And the man went forth one +morning and appeared once more to the gods, and cried: "O ancient +gods; give us but one war again, for I would be back to the camps and +debateable borders of lands." + +And the gods said: "We hear not well of your way of life, yea ill +things have come to our hearing, so that we grant no more the wishes +you wish." + + + + +THE SACK OF EMERALDS + +One bad October night in the high wolds beyond Wiltshire, with a north +wind chaunting of winter, with the old leaves letting go their hold +one by one from branches and dropping down to decay, with a mournful +sound of owls, and in fearsome loneliness, there trudged in broken +boots and in wet and windy rags an old man, stooping low under a sack +of emeralds. It were easy to see had you been travelling late on that +inauspicious night, that the burden of the sack was far too great for +the poor old man that bore it. And had you flashed a lantern in his +face there was a look there of hopelessness and fatigue that would +have told you it was no wish of his that kept him tottering on under +that bloated sack. + +When the menacing look of the night and its cheerless sounds, and the +cold, and the weight of the sack, had all but brought him to the door +of death, and he had dropped his sack onto the road and was dragging +it on behind him, just as he felt that his final hour was come, and +come (which was worse) as he held the accursed sack, just then he saw +the bulk and the black shape of the Sign of the Lost Shepherd loom up +by the ragged way. He opened the door and staggered into the light +and sank on a bench with his huge sack beside him. + +All this you had seen had you been on that lonely road, so late on +those bitter wolds, with their outlines vast and mournful in the dark, +and their little clumps of trees sad with October. But neither you +nor I were out that night. I did not see the poor old man and his +sack until he sank down all of a heap in the lighted inn. + +And Yon the blacksmith was there; and the carpenter, Willie Losh; and +Jackers, the postman's son. And they gave him a glass of beer. And +the old man drank it up, still hugging his emeralds. + +And at last they asked him what he had in his sack, the question he +clearly dreaded; and he only clasped yet tighter the sodden sack and +mumbled he had potatoes. + +"Potatoes," said Yon the blacksmith. + +"Potatoes," said Willie Losh. + +And when he heard the doubt that was in their voices the old man +shivered and moaned. + +"Potatoes, did you say?" said the postman's son. And they all three +rose and tried to peer at the sack that the rain-soaked wayfarer so +zealously sheltered. + +And from the old man's fierceness I had said that, had it not been for +that foul night on the roads and the weight he had carried so far and +the fearful winds of October, he had fought with the blacksmith, the +carpenter and the postman's son, all three, till he beat them away +from his sack. And weary and wet as he was he fought them hard. + +I should no doubt have interfered; and yet the three men meant no harm +to the wayfarer, but resented the reticence that he displayed to them +though they had given him beer; it was to them as though a master key +had failed to open a cupboard. And, as for me, curiosity held me down +to my chair and forbade me to interfere on behalf of the sack; for the +old man's furtive ways, and the night out of which he came, and the +hour of his coming, and the look of his sack, all made me long as much +to know what he had, as even the blacksmith, the carpenter and the +postman's son. + +And then they found the emeralds. They were all bigger than hazel +nuts, hundreds and hundreds of them: and the old man screamed. + +"Come, come, we're not thieves," said the blacksmith. + +"We're not thieves," said the carpenter. + +"We're not thieves," said the postman's son. + +And with awful fear on his face the wayfarer closed his sack, +whimpering over his emeralds and furtively glancing round as though +the loss of his secret were and utterly deadly thing. And then they +asked him to give them just one each, just one huge emerald each, +because they had given him a glass of beer. Then to see the wayfarer +shrink against his sack and guard it with clutching fingers one would +have said that he was a selfish man, were it not for the terror that +was freezing his face. I have seen men look sheer at Death with far +less fear. + +And they took their emerald all three, one enormous emerald each, +while the old man hopelessly struggled till he saw his three emeralds +go, and fell to the floor and wept, a pitiable, sodden heap. + +And about that time I began to hear far off down the windy road, by +which that sack had come, faintly at first and slowly louder and +louder, the click clack clop of a lame horse coming nearer. Click +clack clop and a loose shoe rattling, the sound of a horse too weary +to be out upon such a night, too lame to be out at all. + +Click clack clop. And all of a sudden the old wayfarer heard it; +heard it above the sound of his won sobbing, and at once went white to +the lips. Such sudden fear as blanched him in a moment struck right +to the hearts of all there. They muttered to him that it was only +their play, they hastily whispered excuses, they asked him what was +wrong, but seemed scarcely to hope for an answer, nor did he speak, +but sat with a frozen stare, all at once dry-eyed, a monument to +terror. + +Nearer and nearer came the click clack clop. + +And when I saw the expression of that man's face and how its horror +deepened as the ominous sound drew nearer, then I knew that something +was wrong. And looking for the last time upon all four I saw the +wayfarer horror-struck by his sack and the other three crowding round +to put their huge emeralds back then, even on such a night, I slipped +away from the inn. + +Outside the bitter wind roared in my ears, and close in the darkness +the horse went click clack clop. + +And as soon as my eyes could see at all in the night I saw a man in a +huge hat looped up in front, wearing a sword in a scabbard shabby and +huge, and looking blacker than the darkness, riding on a lean horse +slowly up to the inn. Whether his were the emeralds, or who he was, +or why he rode a lame horse on such a night, I did not stop to +discover, but went at once from the inn as he strode in his great +black riding coat up to the door. + +And that was the last that was ever seen of the wayfarer; the +blacksmith, the carpenter or the postman's son. + + + + +THE OLD BROWN COAT + +My friend, Mr. Douglas Ainslie, tells me that Sir James Barrie once +told him this story. The story, or rather the fragment, was as +follows. + +A man strolling into an auction somewhere abroad, I think it must have +been France, for they bid in francs, found they were selling old +clothes. And following some idle whim he soon found himself bidding +for an old coat. A man bid against him, he bid against the man. Up +and up went the price till the old coat was knocked down to him for +twenty pounds. As he went away with the coat he saw the other bidder +looking at him with an expression of fury. + +That's as far as the story goes. But how, Mr. Ainslie asked me, did +the matter develop, and why that furious look? I at once made +enquiries at a reliable source and have ascertained that the man's +name was Peters, who thus oddly purchased a coat, and that he took it +to the Rue de Rivoli, to a hotel where he lodged, from the little low, +dark auction room by the Seine in which he concluded the bargain. +There he examined it, off and on, all day and much of the next +morning, a light brown overcoat with tails, without discovering any +excuse, far less a reason, for having spent twenty pounds on so worn a +thing. And late next morning to his sitting room looking out on the +Gardens of the Tuileries the man with the furious look was ushered in. + +Grim he stood, silent and angry, till the guiding waiter went. Not +till then did he speak, and his words came clear and brief, welling up +from deep emotions. + +"How did you dare to bid against me?" + +His name was Santiago. And for many moments Peters found no excuse to +offer, no apology, nothing in extenuation. Lamely at last, weakly, +knowing his argument to be of no avail, he muttered something to the +intent that Mr. Santiago could have outbid him. + +"No," said the stranger. "We don't want all the town in this. This +is a matter between you and me." He paused, then added in his fierce, +curt way: "A thousand pounds, no more." + +Almost dumbly Peters accepted the offer and, pocketing the thousand +pounds that was paid him, and apologizing for the inconvenience he had +unwittingly caused, tried to show the stranger out. But Santiago +strode swiftly on before him, taking the coat, and was gone. + +There followed between Peters and his second thoughts another long +afternoon of bitter reproaches. Why ever had he let go so +thoughtlessly of a garment that so easily fetched a thousand pounds? +And the more he brooded on this the more clearly did he perceive that +he had lost an unusual opportunity of a first class investment of a +speculative kind. He knew men perhaps better than he knew materials; +and, though he could not see in that old brown coat the value of so +much as a thousand pounds, he saw far more than that in the man's +eager need for it. An afternoon of brooding over lost opportunities +led to a night of remorse, and scarcely had day dawned when he ran to +his sitting-room to see if he still had safe the card of Santiago. And +there was the neat and perfumed _carte de visite_ with Santiago's +Parisian address in the corner. + +That morning he sought him out, and found Santiago seated at a table +with chemicals and magnifying glasses beside him examining, as it lay +spread wide before him, the old brown coat. And Peters fancied he +wore a puzzled air. + +They came at once to business. Peters was rich and asked Santiago to +name his price, and that small dark man admitted financial straits, +and so was willing to sell for thirty thousand pounds. A little +bargaining followed, the price came down and the old brown coat +changed hands once more, for twenty thousand pounds. + +Let any who may be inclined to doubt my story understand that in the +City, as any respectable company promoter will tell them, twenty +thousand pounds is invested almost daily with less return for it than +an old tail coat. And, whatever doubts Mr. Peters felt that day about +the wisdom of his investment, there before him lay that tangible +return, that something that may be actually fingered and seen, which +is so often denied to the investor in gold mines and other Selected +Investments. Yet as the days wore on and the old coat grew no +younger, nor any more wonderful, nor the least useful, but more and +more like an ordinary old coat, Peters began once more to doubt his +astuteness. Before the week was out his doubts had grown acute. And +then one morning, Santiago returned. A man, he said, had just arrived +from Spain, a friend unexpected all of a sudden in Paris, from whom he +might borrow money: and would Peters resell the coat for thirty +thousand pounds? + +It was then that Peters, seeing his opportunity, cast aside the +pretence that he had maintained for so long of knowing something about +the mysterious coat, and demanded to know its properties. Santiago +swore that he knew not, and repeatedly swore the same by many sacred +names; but when Peters as often threatened not to sell, Santiago at +last drew out a thin cigar and, lighting it and settling himself in a +chair, told all he knew of the coat. + +He had been on its tracks for weeks with suspicions growing all the +time that it was no ordinary coat, and at last he had run it to earth +in that auction room but would not bid for it more than twenty pounds +for fear of letting every one into the secret. What the secret was he +swore he did not know, but this much he knew all along, that the +weight of the coat was absolutely nothing; and he had discovered by +testing it with acids that the brown stuff of which the coat was made +was neither cloth nor silk nor any known material, and would neither +burn nor tear. He believed it to be some undiscovered element. And +the properties of the coat which he was convinced were marvellous he +felt sure of discovering within another week by means of experiments +with his chemicals. Again he offered thirty thousand pounds, to be +paid within two or three days if all went well. And then they started +haggling together as business men will. + +And all the morning went by over the gardens of the Tuileries and the +afternoons came on, and only by two o'clock they arrived at an +understanding, on a basis, as they called it, of thirty thousand +guineas. And the old tail coat was brought out and spread on the +table, and they examined it together and chatted about its properties, +all the more friendly for their strenuous argument. And Santiago was +rising up to go, and Peters pleasantly holding out his hand, when a +step was heard on the stair. It echoed up to the room, the door +opened. And an elderly labouring man came stumping in. He walked +with difficulty, almost like a bather who has been swimming and +floating all morning and misses the buoyancy of the water when he has +come to land. He stumped up to the table without speaking and there at +once caught sight of the old brown coat. + +"Why," he said, "that be my old coat." + +And without another word he put it on. In the fierce glare of his +eyes as he fitted on that coat, carefully fastening the buttons, +buttoning up the flap of a pocket here, unbuttoning one there, neither +Peters nor Santiago found a word to say. They sat there wondering how +they had dared to bid for that brown tail coat, how they had dared to +buy it, even to touch it, they sat there silent without a single +excuse. And with no word more the old labourer stumped across the +room, opened wide the double window that looked on the Tuileries +gardens and, flashing back over his shoulder one look that was full of +scorn, stumped away up through the air at an angle of forty degrees. + +Peters and Santiago saw him bear to his left from the window; passing +diagonally over the Rue de Rivoli and over a corner of the Tuileries +gardens; they saw him clear the Louvre, and thence they dumbly watched +him still slanting upwards, stepping out with a firmer and more +confident stride as he dwindled and dwindled away with his old brown +coat. + +Neither spoke till he was no more than a speck in the sky far away +over Paris going South Eastwards. + +"Well I am blowed," said Peters. + +But Santiago sadly shook his head. "I knew it was a good coat," he +said. "I _knew_ it was a good coat." + + + + +AN ARCHIVE OF THE OLDER MYSTERIES + +It is told in the Archive of the Older Mysteries of China that one of +the house of Tlang was cunning with sharpened iron and went to the +green jade mountains and carved a green jade god. And this was in the +cycle of the Dragon, the seventy-eighth year. + +And for nearly a hundred years men doubted the green jade god, and +then they worshipped him for a thousand years; and after that they +doubted him again, and the green jade god made a miracle and whelmed +the green jade mountains, sinking them down one evening at sunset into +the earth so that there is only a marsh where the green jade mountains +were. And the marsh is full of the lotus. + +By the side of this lotus marsh, just as it glitters at evening, walks +Li La Ting, the Chinese girl, to bring the cows home; she goes behind +them singing of the river Lo Lang Ho. And thus she sings of the +river, even of Lo Lang Ho: she sings that he is indeed of all rivers +the greatest, born of more ancient mountains than even the wise men +know, swifter than hares, more deep than the sea, the master of other +rivers perfumed even as roses and fairer than the sapphires around the +neck of a prince. And then she would pray to the river Lo Lang Ho, +master of rivers and rival of the heaven at dawn, to bring her down in +a boat of light bamboo a lover rowing out of the inner land in a +garment of yellow silk with turquoises at his waist, young and merry +and idle, with a face as yellow as gold and a ruby in his cap with +lanterns shining at dusk. + +Thus she would pray of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho as she went +behind the cows at the edge of the lotus marshes and the green jade +god under the lotus marshes was jealous of the lover that the maiden +Li La Ting would pray for of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho, and +he cursed the river after the manner of gods and turned it into a +narrow and evil smelling stream. + +And all this happened a thousand years ago, and Lo Lang Ho is but a +reproach among travelers and the story of that great river is +forgotten, and what became of the maiden no tale saith though all men +think she became a goddess of jade to sit and smile at a lotus on a +lotus carven of stone by the side of the green jade god far under the +marshes upon the peaks of the mountains, but women know that her ghost +still haunts the lotus marshes on glittering evenings, singing of Lo +Lang Ho. + + + + +A CITY OF WONDER + +Past the upper corner of a precipice the moon rode into view. Night +had for some while now hooded the marvelous city. They had planned it +to be symmetrical, its maps were orderly, near; in two dimensions, +that is length and breadth, its streets met and crossed each other +with regular exactitude, with all the dullness of the science of man. +The city had laughed as it were and shaken itself free and in the +third dimension had soared away to consort with all the careless, +irregular things that know not man for their master. + +Yet even there, even at those altitudes, man had still clung to his +symmetry, still claimed that these mountains were houses; in orderly +rows the thousand windows stood watching each other precisely, all +orderly, all alike, lest any should guess by day that there might be +mystery here. So they stood in the daylight. The sun set, still they +were orderly, as scientific and regular as the labour of only man and +the bees. The mists darken at evening. And first the Woolworth +Building goes away, sheer home and away from any allegiance to man, to +take his place among mountains; for I saw him stand with the lower +slopes invisible in the gloaming, while only his pinnacles showed up +in the clearer sky. Thus only mountains stand. + +Still all the windows of the other buildings stood in their regular +rows--all side by side in silence, not yet changed, as though waiting +one furtive moment to step from the schemes of man, to slip back to +mystery and romance again as cats do when they steal on velvet feet +away from familiar hearths in the dark of the moon. + +Night fell, and the moment came. Someone lit a window, far up another +shone with its orange glow. Window by window, and yet not nearly all. +Surely if modern man with his clever schemes held any sway here still +he would have turned one switch and lit them all together; but we are +back with the older man of whom far songs tell, he whose spirit is kin +to strange romances and mountains. One by one the windows shine from +the precipices; some twinkle, some are dark; man's orderly schemes +have gone, and we are amongst vast heights lit by inscrutable beacons. + +I have seen such cities before, and I have told of them in _The Book +of Wonder_. + +Here in New York a poet met a welcome. + + + + + ** BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW ** + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE + +Beyond the fields we know, in the Lands of Dream, lies the Valley of +the Yann where the mighty river of that name, rising in the Hills of +Hap, idleing its way by massive dream-evoking amethyst cliffs, +orchid-laden forests, and ancient mysterious cities, comes to the Gates +of Yann and passes to the sea. + +Some years since a poet visiting that land voyaged down the Yann on a +trading bark named the _Bird of the River_ and returning safe to +Ireland, set down in a tale that is called _Idle Days on the Yann_, +the wonders of that voyage. Now the tale being one of marvellous +beauty, found its way into a volume we call _A Dreamer's Tales_ where +it may be found to this day with other wondrous tales of that same +poet. + +As the days went by the lure of the river and pleasant memories of his +shipmates bore in with a constant urge on the soul of the poet that he +might once more journey Beyond the Fields We Know and come to the +floor of Yann; and one day it fell out that turning into Go-by Street +that leads up from the Embankment toward the Strand and which you and +I always do go by and perhaps never see in passing, he found the door +which one enters on the way to the Land of Dream. + +Twice of late has Lord Dunsany entered that door in Go-by Street and +returned to the Valley of the Yann and each time come back with a +tale; one, of his search for the _Bird of the River,_ the other of the +mighty hunter who avenged the destruction of Perdóndaris, where on his +earlier voyage the captain tied up his ship and traded within the +city. That all may be clear to those who read these new tales and to +whom no report has previously come Beyond the Fields We Know the +publishers reprint in this volume _Idle Days on the Yann_. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + +So I came down through the wood to the bank of Yann and found, as had +been prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her +cable. + +The captain sate cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar +lying beside him in its jewelled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to +spread the nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of +Yann, and all the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of +the evening descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous +abode of distant gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious +city, into the wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered +the greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to +inquire concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the +most holy gods of whatever land he had come from. And the captain +answered that he came from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that +were the least and humblest, who seldom sent the famine or the +thunder, and were easily appeased with little battles. And I told how +I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, whereat the captain and all +the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are no such places in all +the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock me, I explained that +my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, about a beautiful +city called Golthoth the Damned, which was sentinelled all round by +wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly desolate for years and +years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke in anger and could +never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as far as Pungar +Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which trades with +the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon the +abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that +evening I bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay +him for my fare if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as +far as the cliffs by the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate +of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven +had held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the +imminent approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the +jungle on either bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches +of the trees were silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the +forest were going up and down, and the great stars came gleaming out +to look on the face of Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and +hung them round the ship, and the light flashed out on a sudden and +dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed along his marshy banks all +suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the upper air, and saw the +distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that softly cloaked the +jungle, before they returned again into their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, +but five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together +five or six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different +faiths, so that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As +soon as any one had finished his prayer, another of the same faith +would take his place. Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended +heads under the fluttering sail, while the central stream of the River +Yann took them on towards the sea, and their prayers rose up from +among the lanterns and went towards the stars. And behind them in the +after end of the ship the helmsman prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, +which is prayed by all who follow his trade upon the River Yann, of +whatever faith they be. And the captain prayed to his little lesser +gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous +God there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were +being humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, +whom the men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now +unworshipped and alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all +men who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers +comforted our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elated with +molten snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, +and the Marn and Migris were swollen full with floods; and he bore us +in his might past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the +midstream of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all +awoke, and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of +Yann and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. +Then while the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the +gate of Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the +guard. A sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, +armed with a rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered +with dust. Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was +over all of it. The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on +doorsteps; in the market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of +incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of the echoes of +distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the region of +Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to +ask him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because +none might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the +_Bird of the River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering +over her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out +again, and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the +sun was moving towards his heights, and there had reached us on the +River Yann the song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend +him in his progress round the world. For the little creatures that +have many legs had spread their gauze wings easily on the air, as a +man rests his elbows on a balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial +praises to the sun, or else they moved together on the air in wavering +dances intricate and swift, or turned aside to avoid the onrush of +some drop of water that a breeze had shaken from a jungle orchid, +chilling the air and driving it before it, as it fell whirring in its +rush to the earth; but all the while they sang triumphantly. "For the +day is for us," they said, "whether our great and sacred father the +Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, or whether all +the world shall end to-night." And there sang all those whose notes +are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more numerous +notes have never been heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold +and rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, +but danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of +distant conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some +encampment of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond +that would never abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple +orchids and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the +jungle's decay. And they, too, were among those whose voices are not +discernible by human ears. And as they floated above the river, going +from forest to forest, their splendour was matched by the inimical +beauty of the birds who darted out to pursue them. Or sometimes they +settled on the white and wax-like blooms of the plant that creeps and +clambers about the trees of the forest; and their purple wings flashed +out on the great blossoms as, when the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, +the gleaming silks flash out upon the snow, where the crafty merchants +spread them one by one to astonish the mountaineers of the Hills of +Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent a drowsiness. The river monsters +along the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched +a pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and +then went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an +awning between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of +his own city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen +asleep. The captain offered me the shade of his pavilion with the gold +tassels, and there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was +taking merchandise to Perdóndaris, and that he would take back to fair +Belzoond things appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I +watched through the pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and +butterflies that crossed and recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, +and dreamed that I was a monarch entering his capital underneath +arches of flags, and all the musicians of the world were there, +playing melodiously their instruments; but no one cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens +upon the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to +the steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three +sides of which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court +and along the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity +and care according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city +was of ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had +broken it remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and +everywhere were represented in stone beasts that have long since +passed away from Earth--the dragon, the griffin, and the hippogriffin, +and the different species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, +whether material or custom, that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no +notice at all of us as we went by, but continued their processions and +ceremonies in the ancient city, and the sailors, knowing their custom, +took no notice of them. But I called, as we came near, to one who +stood beside the water's edge, asking him what men did in Astahahn and +what their merchandise was, and with whom they traded. He said, "Here +we have fettered and manacled Time, who would otherwise slay the +gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and +would say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with +ancient custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted +onwards and left Astahahn, and we found in greater quantities such +birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in their +plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had +appeared over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at +the trees with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, +chilling the air; and white shapes moved away into the jungle as +though the ghosts of shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in +the darkness for the spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on +the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted +summit of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the +slime in which they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the +great beasts of the jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while +since were gone to rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed +night seemed already to have fallen, though the sun which had +disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions +as soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the +widgeon began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, +and then would suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by +us the small and arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of +flocks of geese, which the sailors told me had recently come in from +crossing over the Lispasian ranges; every year they come by the same +way, close by the peak of Mluna, leaving it to the left, and the +mountain eagles know the way they come and--men say--the very hour, +and every year they expect them by the same way as soon as the snows +have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it grew so dark that we +saw these birds no more, and only heard the whirring of their wings, +and of countless others besides, until they all settled down along the +banks of the river, and it was the hour when the birds of the night +went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the night, and huge +moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments their gorgeous +colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would pass into +the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors prayed, +and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our lives +into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdóndaris, that +famous city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and +notable, and all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the +jungle that was so long with us. And we were anchored by the +marketplace, and the captain's merchandise was all displayed, and a +merchant of Perdóndaris stood looking at it. And the captain had his +scimitar in his hand, and was beating with it in anger upon the deck, +and the splinters were flying up from the white planks; for the +merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that the captain +declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, whom he +now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great +fatness, showing his pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought +not at all, but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to +whom he wished to sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, +leaving no remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly +the thick toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the +floor, and tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the +merchant said if he offered a piffek more the poor folk must go +without their toomarunds when the winter came, and without their +tollub in the evenings, or else he and his aged father must starve +together. Thereat the captain lifted his scimitar to his own throat, +saying that he was now a ruined man, and that nothing remained to him +but death. And while he was carefully lifting he beard with his left +hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and said that rather +than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had conceived an +especial love when first he saw the manner in which he handled his +ship, he and his aged father should starve together and therefore he +offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his +gods that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his +little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain +wept, for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant +also wept, for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of +how soon he would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his +hands, and eyed the tollub again between his fingers. And so the +bargain was concluded, and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, +paying for them out of a great clinking purse. And these were packed +up into bales again, and three of the merchant's slaves carried them +upon their heads into the city. And all the while the sailors had sat +silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon the deck, eagerly watching the +bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction arose among them, and they +began to compare it among themselves with other bargains that they had +known. And I found out from them that there are seven merchants in +Perdóndaris, and that they had all come to the captain one by one +before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately against +the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the wine +of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and +all made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because +he knew that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the +bargain that he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their +native land, and soon their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and +the little neighbouring cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little glass some heavy yellow +wine from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. +Thick and sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a +mighty, ardent fire which had authority over souls of men. It was +made, the captain told me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of +a family of six who lived in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once +in these mountains, he said, he followed the spoor of a bear, and he +came suddenly on a man of that family who had hunted the same bear, +and he was at the end of a narrow way with precipice all about him, +and his spear was sticking in the bear, and the wound not fatal, and +he had no other weapon. And the bear was walking towards the man, very +slowly because his wound irked him--yet he was now very close. And +what the captain did he would not say, but every year as soon as the +snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian Min, that man comes +down to the market in the plains, and always leaves for the captain in +the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide +of the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not +now minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. +Towards evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdóndaris before we left +in the morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore +alone. Certainly Perdóndaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed +by a wall of great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for +troops to walk in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen +strong towers on it in every mile, and copper plaques low down where +men could read them, telling in all the languages of those parts of +the Earth--one language on each plaque--the tale of how an army once +attacked Perdóndaris and what befell that army. Then I entered +Perdóndaris and found all the people dancing, clad in brilliant silks, +and playing on the tam-bang as they danced. For a fearful thunderstorm +had terrified them while I slept, and the fires of death, they said, +had danced over Perdóndaris, and now the thunder had gone leaping away +large and black and hideous, they said, over the distant hills, and +had turned round snarling at them, showing his gleaming teeth, and had +stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they rang as though they +had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in their merry +dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God that we +know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his hills." +And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon the +marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves +were fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I +came to a silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were +many wonders in Perdóndaris, and I would have stayed and seen them +all, but as I came to the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it +a huge ivory gate. For a while I paused and admired it, then I came +nearer and perceived the dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of +one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I +ran I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of +the fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps +even then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I +felt safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up +from the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of +Perdóndaris still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain +and told him quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at +once about the gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; +and I told him how the weight of the thing was such that it could not +have been brought from afar, and the captain knew that it had not been +there a year ago. We agreed that such a beast could never have been +killed by any assault of man, and that the gate must have been a +fallen tusk, and one fallen near and recently. Therefore he decided +that it were better to flee at once; so he commanded, and the sailors +went to the sails, and others raised the anchor to the deck, and just +as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the last rays of the sun we +left Perdóndaris, that famous city. And night came down and cloaked +Perdóndaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things have happened +will never see it again; for I have heard since that something swift +and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdóndaris in a day--towers, and +walls, and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with +stars. And with the night there arose the helmsman's song. As soon as +he had prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely +night. But first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is +what I remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble +equivalent of the rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic +nights + + To whatever god may hear. + + Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their + way be dark or whether through storm: whether their perils be of + beast or of rock: or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: + wherever the tiller is cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors + sleep or helmsman watch: guard, guide, and return us to the old + land, that has known us: to the far homes that we know. + + To all the gods that are. + + To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster +of the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. +And he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old +dragon-legends of Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little +tales and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over +the black jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great +bands of stars that looked on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl +and Duz, and of the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and +the flocks that they had, and the loves that they had loved, and all +the little things that they hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in +skins and blankets listening to those songs, and watching the +fantastic shapes of the great trees like to black giants stalking +through the night, I suddenly fell asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the +flow of the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves +appeared; for Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, +and knew that their ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet +the merry wild Irillion rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off +from him the torpid sleep that had come upon him in the hot and +scented jungle, and forgot its orchids and its butterflies, and swept +on turbulent, expectant, strong; and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills +of Glorm came glittering into view. And now the sailors were waking up +from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then the helmsman laid him down to +sleep while a comrade took his place, and they all spread over him +their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came +down dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And +now we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the +sailors stood up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own +far-off Acroctian hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the +plains stands fair Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder +and louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down +from the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, +and wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up +near the mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then +she went away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, +and opened upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the +light of day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the +marshes of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and +slowly, and the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the +dreariness of the marshes. + +At last the Irusian Mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then the night came down +over the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We +heard the Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and +Golzunda, then all but the helmsman slept. And villages scattered +along the banks of the Yann heard all that night in the helmsman's +unknown tongue the little songs of cities that they know not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I +remembered why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching +day, according to all forseen probabilities, we should come to +Bar-Wul-Yann, and I should part from the captain and his sailors. And I +had liked the man because he had given me of his yellow wine that was +set apart among his sacred things, and many a story he had told me +about his fair Belzoond between the Acrotian hills and the Hian Min. +And I had liked the ways that his sailors had, and the prayers that +they prayed at evening side by side, grudging not one another their +alien gods. And I had a liking too for the tender way in which they +often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is good that men should love their +native cities and the little hills that hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acrotian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others +in the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by +the fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced +us all alike outside Perdóndaris, a danger that, as things have +happened, was very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; +and the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled a +while; then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northwards, so +that the sailors had to hoist the sails, and the wind being +favourable, we still held onwards. + +And we passed Góndara and Narl and Hoz. And we saw memorable, holy +Golnuz, and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the +last of the cities in the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us +once again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over +all things, and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and +found that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that +is known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the +people of Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering +at their own streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had +crowded all the ways, and every one was doing some strange thing. Some +danced astounding dances that they had learned from the desert wind, +rapidly curving and swirling till the eye could follow no longer. +Others played upon instruments beautiful wailing tunes that were full +of horror, which souls had taught them lost by night in the desert, +that strange far desert from which the Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any +part of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were +made were of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were +barbed at the tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that +seemed to be akin to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear +that haunts dark places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told +one another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew aught of +their language, yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, +and as the tale wound on, the whites of their eyes showed vividly in +terror as the eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then +the teller of the tale would smile and stop, and another would tell +his story, and the teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with +fear. And if some deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would +greet him like a brother, and the snake would seem to give his +greetings to them before he passed on again. Once that most fierce and +lethal of tropic snakes, the giant lythra, came out of the jungle and +all down the street, the central street of Nen, and none of the +Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played sonorously on +drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and the snake +moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one +of them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in +silence with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly +draw from his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen +could do nothing of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they +greet the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of +Mloon, but it was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain +might return from Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on +board and continued down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, +for we were thinking of our parting, which should be for long, and we +watched instead the splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a +ruddy gold, but a faint mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into +it poured the smoke of the little jungle cities, and the smoke of them +met together in the mist and joined into one haze, which became +purple, and was lit by the sun, as the thoughts of men become hallowed +by some great and sacred thing. Sometimes one column from a lonely +house would rise up higher than the cities' smoke, and gleam by itself +in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight +that I had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either +shore two cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing +in the light of the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of +mountainous altitude, and they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling +between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance +through that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where +little fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sunset and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld-and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the +colours of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those +cliffs was to me as some chord of music that a master's hand had +launched from the violin, and which carries to Heaven of Faëry the +tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no farther, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back +again to his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian +Min, and I to find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields +that all poets know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through +whose windows, looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and +looking eastwards see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, +going range on range into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the +kingdom of Fantasy, which pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we +should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped +hands, uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in +his country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to +his little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless +Belzoond. + + + + +A SHOP IN GO-BY STREET + +I said I must go back to Yann again and see if _Bird of the River_ +still plies up and down and whether her bearded captain commands her +still or whether he sits in the gate of fair Belzoond drinking at +evening the marvellous yellow wine that the mountaineer brings down +from the Hian Min. And I wanted to see the sailors again who came +from Durl and Duz and to hear from their lips what befell Perdóndaris +when its doom came up without warning from the hills and fell on that +famous city. And I wanted to hear the sailors pray at night each to +his own god, and to feel the wind of the evening coolly arise when the +sun went flaming away from that exotic river. For I thought never +again to see the tide of Yann, but when I gave up politics not long +ago the wings of my fancy strengthened, though they had erstwhile +drooped, and I had hopes of coming behind the East once more where +Yann like a proud white war-horse goes through the Lands of Dream. + +Yet I had forgotten the way to those little cottages on the edge of +the fields we know whose upper windows, though dim with antique +cobwebs, look out on the fields we know not and are the starting-point +of all adventure in all the Lands of Dream. + +I therefore made enquiries. And so I came to be directed to the shop +of a dreamer who lives not far from the Embankment in the City. Among +so many streets as there are in the city it is little wonder that +there is one that has never been seen before; it is named Go-by Street +and runs out of the Strand if you look very closely. Now when you +enter this man's shop you do not go straight to the point but you ask +him to sell you something, and if it is anything with which he can +supply you he hands it you and wishes you good-morning. It is his +way. And many have been deceived by asking for some unlikely thing, +such as the oyster-shell from which was taken one of those single +pearls that made the gates of Heaven in Revelations, and finding that +the old man had it in stock. + +He was comatose when I went into the shop, his heavy lids almost +covered his little eyes; he sat, and his mouth was open. I said, "I +want some of Abama and Pharpah, rivers of Damascus." "How much?" he +said. "Two and a half yards of each, to be delivered to my flat." +"That is very tiresome," he muttered, "very tiresome. We do not stock +it in that quantity." "Then I will take all you have," I said. + +He rose laboriously and looked among some bottles. I saw one +labelled: Nilos, river of Ægyptos; and others Holy Ganges, Phlegethon, +Jordan; I was almost afraid he had it, when I heard him mutter again, +"This is very tiresome," and presently he said, "We are out of it." +"Then," I said, "I wish you to tell me the way to those little +cottages in whose upper chambers poets look out upon the fields we +know not, for I wish to go into the Land of Dream and to sail once +more upon mighty, sea-like Yann." + +At that he moved heavily and slowly in way-worn carpet slippers, +panting as he went, to the back part of his shop, and I went with him. +This was a dingy lumber-room full of idols: the near end was dingy and +dark but at the far end was a blue cærulean glow in which stars seemed +to be shining and the heads of the idols glowed. "This," said the fat +old man in carpet slippers, "is the heaven of the gods who sleep." I +asked him what gods slept and he mentioned names that I had never +heard as well as names that I knew. "All those," he said, "that are +not worshipped now are asleep." + +"Then does Time not kill the gods?" I said to him and he answered, +"No. But for three or four thousand years a god is worshipped and for +three or four he sleeps. Only Time is wakeful always." + +"But they that teach us of new gods"--I said to him, "are they not +new?" + +"They hear the old ones stirring in their sleep being about to wake, +because the dawn is breaking and the priests crow. These are the +happy prophets: unhappy are they that hear some old god speak while he +sleeps still being deep in slumber, and prophesy and prophesy and no +dawn comes, they are those that men stone saying, 'Prophesy where this +stone shall hit you, and this.'" + +"Then shall Time never slay the gods," I said. And he answered, "They +shall die by the bedside of the last man. Then Time shall go mad in +his solitude and shall not know his hours from his centuries of years +and they shall clamour round him crying for recognition and he shall +lay his stricken hands on their heads and stare at them blindly and +say, 'My children, I do not know you one from another,' and at these +words of Time empty worlds shall reel." + +And for some while then I was silent, for my imagination went out into +those far years and looked back at me and mocked me because I was the +creature of a day. + +Suddenly I was aware by the old man's heavy breathing that he had gone +to sleep. It was not an ordinary shop: I feared lest one of his gods +should wake and call for him: I feared many things, it was so dark, +and one or two of those idols were something more than grotesque. I +shook the old man hard by one of his arms. + +"Tell me the way to the cottages," I said, "on the edge of the fields +we know." + +"I don't think we can do that," he said. + +"Then supply me," I said, "with the goods." + +That brought him to his senses. He said, "You go out by the back door +and turn to the right"; and he opened a little, old, dark door in the +wall through which I went, and he wheezed and shut the door. The back +of the shop was of incredible age. I saw in antique characters upon a +mouldering board, "Licensed to sell weasels and jade earrings." The +sun was setting now and shone on little golden spires that gleamed +along the roof which had long ago been thatched and with a wonderful +straw. I saw that the whole of Go-by Street had the same strange +appearance when looked at from behind. The pavement was the same as +the pavement of which I was weary and of which so many thousand miles +lay the other side of those houses, but the street was of most pure +untrampled grass with such marvellous flowers in it that they lured +downward from great heights the flocks of butterflies as they traveled +by, going I know not whence. The other side of the street there was +pavement again but no houses of any kind, and what there was in place +of them I did not stop to see, for I turned to my right and walked +along the back of Go-by Street till I came to the open fields and the +gardens of the cottages that I sought. Huge flowers went up out of +these gardens like slow rockets and burst into purple blooms and stood +there huge and radiant on six-foot stalks and softly sang strange +songs. Others came up beside them and bloomed and began singing too. +A very old witch came out of her cottage by the back door and into the +garden in which I stood. + +"What are these wonderful flowers?" I said to her. + +"Hush! Hush!" she said, "I am putting the poets to bed. These +flowers are their dreams." + +And in a lower voice I said: "What wonderful songs are they singing?" +and she said, "Be still and listen." + +And I listened and found they were singing of my own childhood and of +things that happened there so far away that I had quite forgotten them +till I heard the wonderful song. + +"Why is the song so faint?" I said to her. + +"Dead voices," she said, "Dead voices," and turned back again to her +cottage saying: "Dead voices" still, but softly for fear that she +should wake the poets. "They sleep so badly while they live," she +said. + +I stole on tiptoe upstairs to the little room from whose windows, +looking one way, we see the fields we know and, looking another, those +hilly lands that I sought--almost I feared not to find them. I looked +at once toward the mountains of faëry; the afterglow of the sunset +flamed on them, their avalanches flashed on their violet slopes coming +down tremendous from emerald peaks of ice; and there was the old gap +in the blue-grey hills above the precipice of amethyst whence one sees +the Lands of Dream. + +All was still in the room where the poets slept when I came quietly +down. The old witch sat by a table with a lamp, knitting a splendid +cloak of gold and green for a king that had been dead a thousand +years. + +"Is it any use," I said, "to the king that is dead that you sit and +knit him a cloak of gold and green?" + +"Who knows?" she said. + +"What a silly question to ask," said her old black cat who lay curled +by the fluttering fire. + +Already the stars were shining on that romantic land when I closed the +witch's door; already the glow-worms were mounting guard for the night +around those magical cottages. I turned and trudged for the gap in +the blue-grey mountains. + +Already when I arrived some colour began to show in the amethyst +precipice below the gap although it was not yet morning. I heard a +rattling and sometimes caught a flash from those golden dragons far +away below me that are the triumph of the goldsmiths of Sirdoo and +were given life by the ritual incantations of the conjurer Amargrarn. +On the edge of the opposite cliff, too near I thought for safety, I +saw the ivory palace of Singanee that mighty elephant-hunter; small +lights appeared in windows, the slaves were awake, and beginning with +heavy eyelids the work of the day. + +And now a ray of sunlight topped the world. Others than I must +describe how it swept from the amethyst cliff the shadow of the black +one that opposed it, how that one shaft of sunlight pierced the +amethyst for leagues, and how the rejoicing colour leaped up to +welcome the light and shot back a purple glow on the walls of the +palace of ivory while down in that incredible ravine the golden +dragons still played in the darkness. + +At this moment a female slave came out by a door of the palace and +tossed a basket-full of sapphires over the edge. And when day was +manifest on those marvellous heights and the flare of the amethyst +precipice filled the abyss, then the elephant-hunter arose in his +ivory palace and took his terrific spear and going out by a landward +door went forth to avenge Perdóndaris + +I turned then and looked upon the lands of Dream, and the thin white +mist that never rolls quite away was shifting in the morning. Rising +like isles above it I saw the Hills of Hap and the city of copper, +old, deserted Bethmoora, and Utnar Véhi and Kyph and Mandaroon and the +wandering leagues of Yann. Rather I guessed than saw the Hian Min +whose imperturbable and aged heads scarce recognize for more than +clustered mounds the round Acroctian hills, that are heaped about +their feet and that shelter, as I remembered, Durl and Duz. But most +clearly I discerned that ancient wood through which one going down to +the bank of Yann whenever the moon is old may come on _Bird of the +River_ anchored there, waiting three days for travellers, as has been +prophesied of her. And as it was now that season I hurried down from +the gap in the blue-grey hills by an elfin path that was coeval with +fable, and came by means of it to the edge of the wood. Black though +the darkness was in that ancient wood the beasts that moved in it were +blacker still. It is very seldom that any dreamer travelling in Lands +of Dream is ever seized by these beasts, and yet I ran; for if a man's +spirit is seized in the Lands of Dream his body may survive it for +many years and well know the beasts that mouthed him far away and the +look in their little eyes and the smell of their breath; that is why +the recreation field at Hanwell is so dreadfully trodden into restless +paths. + +And so I came at last to the sea-like flood of proud, tremendous Yann, +with whom there tumbled streams from incredible lands--with these he +went by singing. Singing he carried drift-wood and whole trees, +fallen in far-away, unvisited forests, and swept them mightily by, but +no sign was there either out in the river or in the olden anchorage +near by of the ship I came to see. + +And I built myself a hut and roofed it over with the huge abundant +leaves of a marvellous weed and ate the meat that grows on the +targar-tree and waited there three days. And all day long the river +tumbled by and all night long the tolulu-bird sang on and the huge +fireflies had no other care than to pour past in torrents of dancing +sparks, and nothing rippled the surface of the Yann by day and nothing +disturbed the tolulu-bird by night. I know not what I feared for the +ship I sought and its friendly captain who came from fair Belzoond and +its cheery sailors out of Durl and Duz; all day long I looked for it +on the river and listened for it by night until the dancing fireflies +danced me to sleep. Three times only in those three nights the +tolulu-bird was scared and stopped his song, and each time I awoke +with a start and found no ship and saw that he was only scared by the +dawn. Those indescribable dawns upon the Yann came up like flames in +some land over the hills where a magician burns by secret means +enormous amethysts in a copper pot. I used to watch them in wonder +while no bird sang--till all of a sudden the sun came over a hill and +every bird but one began to sing, and the tolulu-bird slept fast, till +out of an opening eye he saw the stars. + +I would have waited three more days, but on the third day I had gone +in my loneliness to see the very spot where first I met _Bird of the +River_ at her anchorage with her bearded captain sitting on the deck. +And as I looked at the black mud of the harbour and pictured in my +mind that band of sailors whom I had not seen for two years, I saw an +old hulk peeping from the mud. The lapse of centuries seemed partly +to have rotted and partly to have buried in the mud all but the prow +of the boat and on the prow I faintly saw a name. I read it slowly-- +it was _Bird of the River._ And then I knew that, while in Ireland and +London two years had barely passed over my head, ages had gone over +the region of Yann and wrecked and rotted that once familiar ship, and +buried years ago the bones of the youngest of my friends, who so often +sang to me of Durl and Duz or told the dragon-legends of Belzoond. +For beyond the world we know there roars a hurricane of centuries +whose echo only troubles--though sorely--our fields; while elsewhere +there is calm. I stayed a moment by that battered hulk and said a +prayer for whatever may be immortal of those who were wont to sail it +down the Yann, and I prayed for them to the gods to whom they loved to +pray, to the little lesser gods that bless Belzoond. Then leaving the +hut that I built to those ravenous years I turned my back to the Yann +and entering the forest at evening just as its orchids were opening +their petals to perfume the night came out of it in the morning, and +passed that day along the amethyst gulf by the gap in the blue-grey +mountains. I wondered if Singanee, that mighty elephant-hunter, had +returned again with his spear to his lofty ivory palace or if his doom +had been one with that of Perdóndaris. I saw a merchant at a small +back door selling new sapphires as I passed the palace, then I went on +and came as twilight fell to those small cottages where the elfin +mountains are in sight of the fields we know. And I went to the old +witch that I had seen before and she sat in her parlour with a red +shawl round her shoulders still knitting the golden cloak, and faintly +through one of her windows the elfin mountains shone and I saw again +through another the fields we know. + +"Tell me something," I said, "of this strange land!" + +"How much do you know?" she said. "Do you know that dreams are +illusion?" + +"Of course I do," I said. "Every one knows that." + +"Oh no they don't," she said, "the mad don't know it." + +"That is true," I said. + +"And do you know," she said, "that Life is illusion?" + +"Of course it is not," I said. "Life is real, Life is earnest----." + +At that the witch and her cat (who had not moved from her old place by +the hearth) burst into laughter. I stayed some time, for there was +much that I wished to ask, but when I saw that the laughter would not +stop I turned and went away. + + + + +THE AVENGER OF PERDÓNDARIS + +I was rowing on the Thames not many days after my return from the Yann +and drifting eastwards with the fall of the tide away from Westminster +Bridge, near which I had hired my boat. All kinds of things were on +the water with me--sticks drifting, and huge boats--and I was +watching, so absorbed the traffic of that great river that I did not +notice I had come to the City until I looked up and saw that part of +the Embankment that is nearest to Go-by Street. And then I suddenly +wondered what befell Singanee, for there was a stillness about his +ivory palace when I passed it by, which made me think that he had not +then returned. And though I had seen him go forth with his terrific +spear, and mighty elephant-hunter though he was, yet his was a fearful +quest for I knew that it was none other than to avenge Perdóndaris by +slaying that monster with the single tusk who had overthrown it +suddenly in a day. So I tied up my boat as soon as I came to some +steps, and landed and left the Embankment, and about the third street +I came to I began to look for the opening of Go-by Street; it is very +narrow, you hardly notice it at first, but there it was, and soon I +was in the old man's shop. But a young man leaned over the counter. +He had no information to give me about the old man--he was sufficient +in himself. As to the little old door in the back of the shop, "We +know nothing about that, sir." So I had to talk to him and humour +him. He had for sale on the counter an instrument for picking up a +lump of sugar in a new way. He was pleased when I looked at it and he +began to praise it. I asked him what was the use of it, and he said +that it was of no use but that it had only been invented a week ago +and was quite new and was made of real silver and was being very much +bought. But all the while I was straying towards the back of the +shop. When I enquired about the idols there he said that they were +some of the season's novelties and were a choice selection of mascots; +and while I made a pretence of selecting one I suddenly saw the +wonderful old door. I was through it at once and the young +shop-keeper after me. No one was more surprised than he when he saw +the street of grass and the purple flowers on it; he ran across in his +frock-coat on to the opposite pavement and only just stopped in time, +for the world ended there. Looking downward over the pavement's edge +he saw, instead of accustomed kitchen-windows, white clouds and a +wide, blue sky. I led him to the old back door of the shop, looking +pale and in need of air, and pushed him lightly and he went limply +through, for I thought the air was better for him on the side of the +street that he knew. As soon as the door was shut on that astonished +man I turned to the right and went along the street till I saw the +gardens and the cottages, and a little red patch moving in a garden, +which I knew to be the old witch wearing her shawl. + +"Come for a change of illusion again?" she said. + +"I have come from London," I said. "And I want to see Singanee. I +want to go to his ivory palace over the elfin mountains where the +amethyst precipice is." + +"Nothing like changing your illusions," she said, "or you grow tired. +London's a fine place but one wants to see the elfin mountains +sometimes." + +"Then you know London?" I said. + +"Of course I do," she said. "I can dream as well as you. You are not +the only person that can imagine London." Men were toiling dreadfully +in her garden; it was in the heat of the day and they were digging +with spades; she suddenly turned from me to beat one of them over the +back with a long black stick that she carried. "Even my poets go to +London sometimes," she said to me. + +"Why did you beat that man?" I said. + +"To make him work," she answered. + +"But he is tired," I said. + +"Of course he is," said she. + +And I looked and saw that the earth was difficult and dry and that +every spadeful that the tired men lifted was full of pearls; but some +men sat quite still and watched the butterflies that flitted about the +garden and the old witch did not beat them with her stick. And when I +asked her who the diggers were she said, "These are my poets, they are +digging for pearls." And when I asked her what so many pearls were +for she said to me: "To feed the pigs of course." + +"But do the pigs like pearls?" I said to her. + +"Of course they don't," she said. And I would have pressed the matter +further but the old black cat had come out of the cottage and was +looking at me whimsically and saying nothing so that I knew I was +asking silly questions. And I asked instead why some of the poets +were idle and were watching butterflies without being beaten. And she +said: "The butterflies know where the pearls are hidden and they are +waiting for one to alight above the buried treasure. They cannot dig +until they know where to dig." And all of a sudden a faun came out of +a rhododendron forest and began to dance upon a disk of bronze in +which a fountain was set; and the sound of his two hooves dancing on +the bronze was beautiful as bells. + +"Tea-bell," said the witch; and all the poets threw down their spades +and followed her into the house, and I followed them; but the witch +and all of us followed the black cat, who arched his back and lifted +his tail and walked along the garden-path of blue enamelled tiles and +through the black-thatched porch and the open, oaken door and into a +little room where tea was ready. And in the garden the flowers began +to sing and the fountain tinkled on the disk of bronze. And I learned +that the fountain came from an otherwise unknown sea, and sometimes it +threw gilded fragments up from the wrecks of unheard-of galleons, +foundered in storms of some sea that was nowhere in the world; or +battered to bits in wars waged with we know not whom. Some said that +it was salt because of the sea and others that it was salt with +mariners' tears. And some of the poets took large flowers out of +vases and threw their petals all about the room, and others talked two +at a time and other sang. "Why they are only children after all," I +said. + +"Only children!" repeated the old witch who was pouring out cowslip +wine. + +_"Only_ children," said the old black cat. And every one laughed at +me. + +"I sincerely apologize," I said. "I did not mean to say it. I did +not intend to insult any one." + +"Why he knows nothing at all," said the old black cat. And everybody +laughed till the poets were put to bed. + +And then I took one look at the fields we know, and turned to the +other window that looks on the elfin mountains. And the evening +looked like a sapphire. And I saw my way though the fields were +growing dim, and when I found it I went downstairs and through the +witch's parlour, and out of doors and came that night to the palace of +Singanee. + +Lights glittered through every crystal slab--and all were +uncurtained--in the palace of ivory. The sounds were those of a +triumphant dance. Very haunting indeed was the booming of a bassoon, +and like the dangerous advance of some galloping beast were the blows +wielded by a powerful man on the huge, sonourous drum. It seemed to +me as I listened that the contest of Singanee with the more than +elephantine destroyer of Perdóndaris had already been set to music. +And as I walked in the dark along the amethyst precipice I suddenly +saw across it a curved white bridge. It was one ivory tusk. And I +knew it for the triumph of Singanee. I knew at once that this curved +mass of ivory that had been dragged by ropes to bridge the abyss was +the twin of the ivory gate that once Perdóndaris had, and had itself +been the destruction of that once famous city--towers and walls and +people. Already men had begun to hollow it and to carve human figures +life-size along its sides. I walked across it; and half way across, +at the bottom of the curve, I met a few of the carvers fast asleep. On +the opposite cliff by the palace lay the thickest end of the tusk and +I came down a ladder which leaned against the tusk for they had not +yet carved steps. + +Outside the ivory palace it was as I had supposed and the sentry at +the gate slept heavily; and though I asked of him permission to enter +the palace he only muttered a blessing on Singanee and fell asleep +again. It was evident that he had been drinking bak. Inside the ivory +hall I met with servitors who told me that any stranger was welcome +there that night, because they extolled the triumph of Singanee. And +they offered me bak to drink to commemorate the splendour but I did +not know its power nor whether a little or much prevailed over a man +so I said that I was under an oath to a god to drink nothing +beautiful; and they asked me if he could not be appeased by a prayer, +and I said, "In nowise," and went towards the dance; and they +commiserated me and abused that god bitterly, thinking to please me +thereby, and then they fell to drinking bak to the glory of Singanee. +Outside the curtains that hung before the dance there stood a +chamberlain and when I told him that though a stranger there, yet I +was well known to Mung and Sish and Kib, the gods of Pegana, whose +signs I made, he bade me ample welcome. Therefore I questioned him +about my clothes asking if they were not unsuitable to so august an +occasion and he swore by the spear that had slain the destroyer of +Perdóndaris that Singanee would think it a shameful thing that any +stranger not unknown to the gods should enter the dancing hall +unsuitably clad; and therefore he led me to another room and took +silken robes out of an old sea-chest of black and seamy oak with green +copper hasps that were set with a few pale sapphires, and requested me +to choose a suitable robe. And I chose a bright green robe, with an +under-robe of light blue which was seen here and there, and a light +blue sword-belt. I also wore a cloak that was dark purple with two +thin strips of dark-blue along the border and a row of large dark +sapphires sewn along the purple between them; it hung down from my +shoulders behind me. Nor would the chamberlain of Singanee let me +take any less than this, for he said that not even a stranger, on that +night, could be allowed to stand in the way of his master's +munificence which he was pleased to exercise in honour of his victory. +As soon as I was attired we went to the dancing hall and the first +thing that I saw in that tall, scintillant chamber was the huge form +of Singanee standing among the dancers and the heads of the men no +higher than his waist. Bare were the huge arms that had held the +spear that had avenged Perdóndaris. The chamberlain led me to him and +I bowed, and said that I gave thanks to the gods to whom he looked for +protection; and he said that he had heard my gods well spoken of by +those accustomed to pray but this he said only of courtesy, for he +knew not whom they were. + +Singanee was simply dressed and only wore on his head a plain gold +band to keep his hair from falling over his forehead, the ends of the +gold were tied in the back with a bow of purple silk. But all his +queens wore crowns of great magnificence, though whether they were +crowned as the queens of Singanee or whether queens were attracted +there from the thrones of distant lands by the wonder of him and the +splendour I did not know. + +All there wore silken robes of brilliant colours and the feet of all +were bare and very shapely for the custom of boots was unknown in +those regions. And when they saw that my big toes were deformed in +the manner of Europeans, turning inwards towards the others instead of +being straight, one or two asked sympathetically if an accident had +befallen me. And rather than tell them truly that deforming out big +toes was our custom and our pleasure I told them that I was under the +curse of a malignant god at whose feet I had neglected to offer +berries in infancy. And to some extent I justified myself, for +Convention is a god though his ways are evil; and had I told them the +truth I would not have been understood. They gave me a lady to dance +with who was of marvellous beauty, she told me that her name was +Saranoora, a princess from the North, who had been sent as tribute to +the palace of Singanee. And partly she danced as Europeans dance and +partly as the fairies of the waste who lure, as legend has it, lost +travellers to their doom. And if I could get thirty heathen men out of +fantastic lands, with their long black hair and little elfin eyes and +instruments of music even unknown to Nebuchadnezzar the King; and if I +could make them play those tunes that I heard in the ivory palace on +some lawn, gentle reader, at evening near your house then you would +understand the beauty of Saranoora and the blaze of light and colour +in that stupendous hall and the lithesome movement of those mysterious +queens that danced round Singanee. Then gentle reader you would be +gentle no more but the thoughts that run like leopards over the far +free lands would come leaping into your head even were it London, yes, +even in London: you would rise up then and beat your hands on the wall +with its pretty pattern of flowers, in the hope that the bricks might +break and reveal the way to that palace of ivory by the amethyst gulf +where the golden dragons are. For there have been men who have burned +prisons down that the prisoners might escape, and even such +incendiaries those dark musicians are who dangerously burn down custom +that the pining thoughts may go free. Let your elders have no fear, +have no fear. I will not play those tunes in any streets we know. I +will not bring those strange musicians here, I will only whisper the +way to the Lands of Dream, and only a few frail feet shall find the +way, and I shall dream alone of the beauty of Saranoora and sometimes +sigh. We danced on and on at the will of the thirty musicians, but +when the stars were paling and the wind that knew the dawn was +ruffling up the edge of the skirts of night, then Saranoora the +princess of the North led me out into a garden. Dark groves of trees +were there which filled the night with perfume and guarded night's +mysteries from the arising dawn. There floated over us, wandering in +that garden, the triumphant melody of those dark musicians, whose +origin was unguessed even by those that dwelt there and knew the Lands +of Dream. For only a moment once sang the tolulu-bird, for the +festival of that night had scared him and he was silent. For only a +moment once we heard him singing in some far grove because the +musicians rested and our bare feet made no sound; for a moment we +heard that bird of which once our nightingale dreamed and handed on +the tradition to his children. And Saranoora told me that they have +named the bird the Sister of Song; but for the musicians, who +presently played again, she said they had no name, for no one knew who +they were or from what country. Then some one sang quite near us in +the darkness to an instrument of strings telling of Singanee and his +battle against the monster. And soon we saw him sitting on the ground +and singing to the night of that spear-thrust that had found the +thumping heart of the destroyer of Perdóndaris; and we stopped awhile +and asked him who had seen so memorable a struggle and he answered +none but Singanee and he whose tusk had scattered Perdóndaris, and now +the last was dead. And when we asked him if Singanee had told him of +the struggle he said that that proud hunter would say no word about it +and that therefore his mighty deed was given to the poets and become +their trust forever, and he struck again his instrument of strings and +sang on. + +When the strings of pearls that hung down from her neck began to gleam +all over Saranoora I knew that dawn was near and that that memorable +night was all but gone. And at last we left the garden and came to +the abyss to see the sunrise shine on the amethyst cliff. And at first +it lit up the beauty of Saranoora and then it topped the world and +blazed upon those cliffs of amethyst until it dazzled our eyes, and we +turned from it and saw the workman going out along the tusk to hollow +it and to carve a balustrade of fair professional figures. And those +who had drunken bak began to awake and to open their dazzled eyes at +the amethyst precipice and to rub them and turn them away. And now +those wonderful kingdoms of song that the dark musicians established +all night by magical chords dropped back again to the sway of that +ancient silence who ruled before the gods, and the musicians wrapped +their cloaks about them and covered up their marvellous instruments +and stole away to the plains; and no one dared ask them whither they +went or why they dwelt there, or what god they served. And the dance +stopped and all the queens departed. And then the female slave came +out again by a door and emptied her basket of sapphires down the abyss +as I saw her do before. Beautiful Saranoora said that those great +queens would never wear their sapphires more than once and that every +day at noon a merchant from the mountains sold new ones for that +evening. Yet I suspected that something more than extravagance lay at +the back of that seemingly wasteful act of tossing sapphires into an +abyss, for there were in the depths of it those two dragons of gold of +whom nothing seemed to be known. And I thought, and I think so still, +that Singanee, terrific though he was in war with the elephants, from +whose tusks he had built his palace, well knew and even feared those +dragons in the abyss, and perhaps valued those priceless jewels less +than he valued his queens, and that he to whom so many lands paid +beautiful tribute out of their dread of his spear, himself paid +tribute to the golden dragons. Whether those dragons had wings I could +not see; nor, if they had, could I tell if they could bear that weight +of solid gold from the abyss; nor by what paths they could crawl from +it did I know. And I know not what use to a golden dragon should +sapphires be or a queen. Only it seemed strange to me that so much +wealth of jewels should be thrown by command of a man who had nothing +to fear--to fall flashing and changing their colours at dawn into an +abyss. + +I do not know how long we lingered there watching the sunrise on those +miles of amethyst. And it is strange that that great and famous +wonder did not move me more than it did, but my mind was dazzled by +the fame of it and my eyes were actually dazzled by the blaze, and as +often happens I thought more of little things and remember watching +the daylight in the solitary sapphire that Saranoora had and that she +wore upon her finger in a ring. Then, the dawn wind being all about +her, she said that she was cold and turned back into the ivory palace. +And I feared that we might never meet again, for time moves +differently over the Lands of Dream than over the fields we know; like +ocean-currents going different ways and bearing drifting ships. And +at the doorway of the ivory palace I turned to say farewell and yet I +found no words that were suitable to say. And often now when I stand +in other lands I stop and think of many things to have said; yet all I +said was "Perhaps we shall meet again." And she said that it was +likely that we should often meet for that this was a little thing for +the gods to permit not knowing that the gods of the Lands of Dream +have little power upon the fields we know. Then she went in through +the doorway. And having exchanged for my own clothes again the raiment +that the chamberlain had given me I turned from the hospitality of +mighty Singanee and set my face towards the fields we know. I crossed +that enormous tusk that had been the end of Perdóndaris and met the +artists carving it as I went; and some by way of greeting as I passed +extolled Singanee, and in answer I gave honour to his name. Daylight +had not yet penetrated wholly to the bottom of the abyss but the +darkness was giving place to a purple haze and I could faintly see one +golden dragon there. Then looking once towards the ivory palace, and +seeing no one at the windows, I turned sorrowfully away, and going by +the way that I knew passed through the gap in the mountains and down +their slopes till I came again in sight of the witch's cottage. And +as I went to the upper window to look for the fields we know, the +witch spoke to me; but I was cross, as one newly waked from sleep, and +I would not answer her. Then the cat questioned me as to whom I had +met, and I answered him that in the fields we know cats kept their +place and did not speak to man. And then I came downstairs and walked +straight out of the door, heading for Go-by Street. "You are going +the wrong way," the witch called through the window; and indeed I had +no sooner gone back to the ivory palace again, but I had no right to +trespass any further on the hospitality of Singanee and one cannot +stay always in the Lands of Dream, and what knowledge had that old +witch of the call of the fields we know or the little though many +snares that bind our feet therein? So I paid no heed to her, but kept +on, and came to Go-by Street. I saw the house with the green door +some way up the street but thinking that the near end of the street +was closer to the Embankment where I had left my boat I tried the +first door I came to, a cottage thatched like the rest, with little +golden spires along the roof-ridge, and strange birds sitting there +and preening marvellous feathers. The door opened, and to my surprise +I found myself in what seemed like a shepherd's cottage; a man who was +sitting on a log of wood in a little low dark room said something to +me in an alien language. I muttered something and hurried through to +the street. The house was thatched in front as well as behind. There +were not golden spires in front, no marvellous birds; but there was no +pavement. There was a row of houses, byres, and barns but no other +sign of a town. Far off I saw one or two little villages. Yet there +was the river--and no doubt the Thames, for it was the width of the +Thames and had the curves of it, if you can imagine the Thames in that +particular spot without a city around it, without any bridges, and the +Embankment fallen in. I saw that there had happened to me permanently +and in the light of day some such thing as happens to a man, but to a +child more often, when he awakes before morning in some strange room +and sees a high, grey window where the door ought to be and unfamiliar +objects in wrong places and though knowing where he is yet knows not +how it can be that the place should look like that. + +A flock of sheep came by me presently looking the same as ever, but +the man who led them had a wild, strange look. I spoke to him and he +did not understand me. Then I went down to the river to see if my +boat was there and at the very spot where I had left it, in the mud +(for the tide was low) I saw a half-buried piece of blackened wood +that might have been part of a boat, but I could not tell. I began to +feel that I had missed the world. It would be a strange thing to +travel from far away to see London and not be able to find it among +all the roads that lead there, but I seemed to have travelled in Time +and to have missed it among the centuries. And when as I wandered +over the grassy hills I came on a wattled shrine that was thatched +with straw and saw a lion in it more worn with time than even the +Sphinx at Gizeh and when I knew it for one of the four in Trafalgar +Square then I saw that I was stranded far away in the future with many +centuries of treacherous years between me and anything that I had +known. And then I sat on the grass by the worn paws of the lion to +think out what to do. And I decided to go back through Go-by Street +and, since there was nothing left to keep me any more to the fields we +know, to offer myself as a servant in the palace of Singanee, and to +see again the face of Saranoora and those famous, wonderful, +amethystine dawns upon the abyss where the golden dragons play. And I +stayed no longer to look for remains of the ruins of London; for there +is little pleasure in seeing wonderful things if there is no one at +all to hear of them and to wonder. So I returned at once to Go-by +Street, the little row of huts, and saw no other record that London +had been except that one stone lion. I went to the right house this +time. It was very much altered and more like one of those huts that +one sees on Salisbury plain than a shop in the city of London, but I +found it by counting the houses in the street for it was still a row +of houses though pavement and city were gone. And it was still a shop. +A very different shop to the one I knew, but things were for sale +there--shepherd's crooks, food, and rude axes. And a man with long +hair was there who was clad in skins. I did not speak to him for I did +not know his language. He said to me something that sounded like +"Everkike." It conveyed no meaning to me; but when he looked towards +one of his buns, light suddenly dawned in my mind, and I knew that +England was even England still and that still she was not conquered, +and that though they had tired of London they still held to their +land; for the words that the man had said were, "Av er kike," and then +I knew that that very language that was carried to distant lands by +the old, triumphant cockney was spoken still in his birthplace and +that neither his politics nor his enemies had destroyed him after all +these thousand years. I had always disliked the Cockney dialect--and +with the arrogance of the Irishman who hears from rich and poor the +English of the splendour of Elizabeth; and yet when I heard those +words my eyes felt sore as with impending tears--it should be +remembered how far away I was. I think I was silent for a little +while. Suddenly I saw that the man who kept the shop was asleep. +That habit was strangely like the ways of a man who if he were then +alive would be (if I could judge from the time-worn look of the lion) +over a thousand years old. But then how old was I? It is perfectly +clear that Time moves over the Lands of Dream swifter or slower than +over the fields we know. For the dead, and the long dead, live again +in our dreams; and a dreamer passes through the events of days in a +single moment of the Town-Hall's clock. Yet logic did not aid me and +my mind was puzzled. While the old man slept--and strangely like in +face he was to the old man who had shown me first the little, old +backdoor--I went to the far end of his wattled shop. There was a door +of a sort on leather hinges. I pushed it open and there I was again +under the notice-board at the back of the shop, at least the back of +Go-by Street had not changed. Fantastic and remote though this grass +street was with its purple flowers and the golden spires, and the +world ending at its opposite pavement, yet I breathed more happily to +see something again that I had seen before. I thought I had lost +forever the world I knew, and now that I was at the back of Go-by +Street again I felt the loss less than when I was standing where +familiar things ought to be; and I turned my mind to what was left me +in the vast Lands of Dream and thought of Saranoora. And when I saw +the cottages again I felt less lonely even at the thought of the cat +though he generally laughed at the things I said. And the first thing +that I saw when I saw the witch was that I had lost the world and was +going back for the rest of my days to the palace of Singanee. And the +first thing that she said was: "Why! You've been through the wrong +door," quite kindly for she saw how unhappy I looked. And I said, +"Yes, but it's all the same street. The whole street's altered and +London's gone and the people I used to know and the houses I used to +rest in, and everything; and I'm tired." + +"What did you want to go through the wrong door for?" she said. + +"O, that made no difference," I said. + +"O, didn't it?" she said in a contradictory way. + +"Well I wanted to get to the near end of the street so as to find my +boat quickly by the Embankment. And now my boat, and the Embankment +and--and----." + +"Some people are always in such a hurry," said the old black cat. And +I felt too unhappy to be angry and I said nothing more. + +And the old witch said, "Now which way do you want to go?" and she was +talking rather like a nurse to a small child. And I said, "I have +nowhere to go." + +And she said, "Would you rather go home or go to the ivory palace of +Singanee." And I said, "I've got a headache, and I don't want to go +anywhere, and I'm tired of the Lands of Dream." + +"Then suppose you try going in through the right door," she said. + +"That's no good," I said. "Everyone's dead and gone, and they're +selling buns there." + +"What do you know about Time?" she said. + +"Nothing," answered the old, black cat, though nobody spoke to him. + +"Run along," said the old witch. + +So I turned and trudged away to Go-by Street again. I was very tired. +"What does he know about anything?" said the old black cat behind me. +I knew what he was going to say next. He waited a moment and then +said, "Nothing." When I looked over my shoulder he was strutting back +to the cottage. And when I got to Go-by Street I listlessly opened +the door through which I had just now come. I saw no use in doing it, +I just did wearily as I was told. And the moment I got inside I saw +it was just the same as of old, and the sleepy old man was there who +sold idols. And I bought a vulgar thing that I did not want, for the +sheer joy of seeing accustomed things. And when I turned from Go-by +Street which was just the same as ever, the first thing that I saw was +a taximeter running into a hansom cab. And I took off my hat and +cheered. And I went to the Embankment and there was my boat, and the +stately river full of dirty, accustomed things. And I rowed back and +bought a penny paper, (I had been away it seemed for one day) and I +read it from cover to cover--patent remedies for incurable illnesses +and all--and I determined to walk, as soon as I was rested, in all the +streets that I knew and to call on all the people that I had ever met, +and to be content for long with the fields we know. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Three Hemispheres, by Lord Dunsany + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES *** + +***** This file should be named 11440-8.txt or 11440-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/4/11440/ + +Produced by Tom Harris, text provided by Litrix Reading Room. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/11440-8.zip b/old/11440-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba832ac --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11440-8.zip diff --git a/old/11440.txt b/old/11440.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4618d3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/11440.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3011 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Three Hemispheres, by Lord Dunsany + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Tales of Three Hemispheres + +Author: Lord Dunsany + +Release Date: March 4, 2004 [EBook #11440] +[Last updated: October 8, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES *** + + + + +Produced by Tom Harris, text provided by Litrix Reading Room. + + + + +TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES + +Lord Dunsany + + + +CONTENTS + +The Last Dream Of Bwona Khubla +How the Office of Postman Fell Vacant In Otford-under-the-Wold +The Prayer Of Boob Aheera +East And West +A Pretty Quarrel +How The Gods Avenged Meoul Ki Ning +The Gift Of The Gods +The Sack Of Emeralds +The Old Brown Coat +An Archive Of The Older Mysteries +A City Of Wonder + Beyond the Fields We Know + Publisher's Note + First Tale: Idle Days on the Yann + Second Tale: A Shop In Go-By Street + Third Tale: The Avenger Of Perdondaris + +[Note that the tale "Idle Days on the Yann" also appears in the +collection "A Dreamer's Tales".] + + + + +THE LAST DREAM OF BWONA KHUBLA + +From steaming lowlands down by the equator, where monstrous orchids +blow, where beetles big as mice sit on the tent-ropes, and fireflies +glide about by night like little moving stars, the travelers went +three days through forests of cactus till they came to the open plains +where the oryx are. + +And glad they were when they came to the water-hole, where only one +white man had gone before, which the natives know as the camp of Bwona +Khubla, and found the water there. + +It lies three days from the nearest other water, and when Bwona Khubla +had gone there three years ago, what with malaria with which he was +shaking all over, and what with disgust at finding the water-hole dry, +he had decided to die there, and in that part of the world such +decisions are always fatal. In any case he was overdue to die, but +hitherto his amazing resolution, and that terrible strength of +character that so astounded his porters, had kept him alive and moved +his safari on. + +He had had a name no doubt, some common name such as hangs as likely +as not over scores of shops in London; but that had gone long ago, and +nothing identified his memory now to distinguish it from the memories +of all the other dead but "Bwona Khubla," the name the Kikuyus gave +him. + +There is not doubt that he was a fearful man, a man that was dreaded +still for his personal force when his arm was no longer able to lift +the kiboko, when all his men knew he was dying, and to this day though +he is dead. + +Though his temper was embittered by malaria and the equatorial sun, +nothing impaired his will, which remained a compulsive force to the +very last, impressing itself upon all, and after the last, from what +the Kikuyus say. The country must have had powerful laws that drove +Bwona Khubla out, whatever country it was. + +On the morning of the day that they were to come to the camp of Bwona +Khubla all the porters came to the travelers' tents asking for dow. +Dow is the white man's medicine, that cures all evils; the nastier it +tastes, the better it is. They wanted down this morning to keep away +devils, for they were near the place where Bwona Khubla died. + +The travelers gave them quinine. + +By sunset the came to Campini Bwona Khubla and found water there. Had +they not found water many of them must have died, yet none felt any +gratitude to the place, it seemed too ominous, too full of doom, too +much harassed almost by unseen, irresistible things. + +And all the natives came again for dow as soon as the tents were +pitched, to protect them from the last dreams of Bwona Khubla, which +they say had stayed behind when the last safari left taking Bwona +Khubla's body back to the edge of civilization to show to the white +men there that they had not killed him, for the white men might not +know that they durst not kill Bwona Khubla. + +And the travelers gave them more quinine, so much being bad for the +nerves, and that night by the camp-fires there was no pleasant talk; +all talking at once of meat they had eaten and cattle that each one +owned, but a gloomy silence hung by every fire and the little canvas +shelters. They told the white men that Bwona Khubla's city, of which +he had thought at the last (and where the natives believed he was once +a king), of which he had raved till the loneliness rang with his +raving, had settled down all about them; and they were afraid, for it +was so strange a city, and wanted more dow. And the two travelers +gave them more quinine, for they saw real fear in their faces, and +knew they might run away and leave them alone in that place, that +they, too, had come to fear with an almost equal dread, though they +knew not why. And as the night wore on their feeling of boding +deepened, although they had shared three bottles or so of champagne +that they meant to keep for days when they killed a lion. + +This is the story that each of those two men tell, and which their +porters corroborate, but then a Kikuyu will always say whatever he +thinks is expected of him. + +The travelers were both in bed and trying to sleep but not able to do +so because of an ominous feeling. That mournfullest of all the cries +of the wild, the hyaena like a damned soul lamenting, strangely enough +had ceased. The night wore on to the hour when Bwona Khubla had died +three or four years ago, dreaming and raving of "his city"; and in the +hush a sound softly arose, like a wind at first, then like the roar of +beasts, then unmistakably the sound of motors--motors and motor +busses. + +And then they saw, clearly and unmistakably they say, in that lonely +desolation where the equator comes up out of the forest and climbs +over jagged hills,--they say they saw London. + +There could have been no moon that night, but they say there was a +multitude of stars. Mists had come rolling up at evening about the +pinnacles of unexplored red peaks that clustered round the camp. But +they say the mist must have cleared later on; at any rate they swear +they could see London, see it and hear the roar of it. Both say they +saw it not as they knew it at all, not debased by hundreds of +thousands of lying advertisements, but transfigured, all its houses +magnificent, its chimneys rising grandly into pinnacles, its vast +squares full of the most gorgeous trees, transfigured and yet London. + +Its windows were warm and happy, shining at night, the lamps in their +long rows welcomed you, the public-houses were gracious jovial places; +yet it was London. + +They could smell the smells of London, hear London songs, and yet it +was never the London that they knew; it was as though they had looked +on some strange woman's face with the eyes of her lover. For of all +the towns of the earth or cities of song; of all the spots there be, +unhallowed or hallowed, it seemed to those two men then that the city +they saw was of all places the most to be desired by far. They say a +barrel organ played quite near them, they say a coster was singing, +they admit that he was singing out of tune, they admit a cockney +accent, and yet they say that that song had in it something that no +earthly song had ever had before, and both men say that they would +have wept but that there was a feeling about their heartstrings that +was far too deep for tears. They believe that the longing of this +masterful man, that was able to rule a safari by raising a hand, had +been so strong at the last that it had impressed itself deeply upon +nature and had caused a mirage that may not fade wholly away, perhaps +for several years. + +I tried to establish by questions the truth or reverse of this story, +but the two men's tempers had been so spoiled by Africa that they were +not up to cross-examination. They would not even say if their +camp-fires were still burning. They say that they saw the London +lights all round them from eleven o'clock till midnight, they could +hear London voices and the sound of the traffic clearly, and over +all, a little misty perhaps, but unmistakably London, arose the great +metropolis. + +After midnight London quivered a little and grew more indistinct, the +sound of the traffic began to dwindle away, voices seemed farther off, +ceased altogether, and all was quiet once more where the mirage +shimmered and faded, and a bull rhinoceros coming down through the +stillness snorted, and watered at the Carlton Club. + + + + +HOW THE OFFICE OF POSTMAN FELL VACANT IN OTFORD-UNDER-THE-WOLD + +The duties of postman at Otford-under-the-Wold carried Amuel Sleggins +farther afield than the village, farther afield than the last house in +the lane, right up to the big bare wold and the house where no one +went, no one that is but the three grim men that dwelt there and the +secretive wife of one, and, once a year when the queer green letter +came, Amuel Sleggins the postman. + +The green letter always came just as the leaves were turning, +addressed to the eldest of the three grim men, with a wonderful +Chinese stamp and the Otford post-mark, and Amuel Sleggins carried it +up to the house. + +He was not afraid to go, for he always took the letter, had done so +for seven years, yet whenever summer began to draw to a close, Amuel +Sleggins was ill at ease, and if there was a touch of autumn about +shivered unduly so that all folk wondered. + +And then one day a wind would blow from the East, and the wild geese +would appear, having left the sea, flying high and crying strangely, +and pass till they were no more than a thin black line in the sky like +a magical stick flung up by a doer of magic, twisting and twirling +away; and the leaves would turn on the trees and the mists be white on +the marshes and the sun set large and red and autumn would step down +quietly that night from the wold; and the next day the strange green +letter would come from China. + +His fear of the three grim men and that secretive woman and their +lonely, secluded house, or else the cadaverous cold of the dying +season, rather braced Amuel when the time was come and he would step +out bolder upon the day that he feared than he had perhaps for weeks. +He longed on that day for a letter for the last house in the lane, +there he would dally and talk awhile and look on church-going faces +before his last tramp over the lonely wold to end at the dreaded door +of the queer grey house called wold-hut. + +When he came to the door of wold-hut he would give the postman's knock +as though he came on ordinary rounds to a house of every day, although +no path led up to it, although the skins of weasels hung thickly from +upper windows. + +And scarcely had his postman's knock rung through the dark of the +house when the eldest of the three grim men would always run to the +door. O, what a face had he. There was more slyness in it than ever +his beard could hide. He would put out a gristly hand; and into it +Amuel Sleggins would put the letter from China, and rejoice that his +duty was done, and would turn and stride away. And the fields lit up +before him, but, ominous, eager and low murmuring arose in the +wold-hut. + +For seven years this was so and no harm had come to Sleggins, seven +times he had gone to wold-hut and as often come safely away; and then +he needs must marry. Perhaps because she was young, perhaps because +she was fair or because she had shapely ankles as she came one day +through the marshes among the milkmaid flowers shoeless in spring. +Less things than these have brought men to their ends and been the +nooses with which Fate snared them running. With marriage curiosity +entered his house, and one day as they walked with evening through the +meadows, one summer evening, she asked him of wold-hut where he only +went, and what the folks were like that no one else had seen. All this +he told her; and then she asked him of the green letter from China, +that came with autumn, and what the letter contained. He read to her +all the rules of the Inland Revenue, he told her he did not know, that +it was not right that he should know, he lectured her on the sin of +inquisitiveness, he quoted Parson, and in the end she said that she +must know. They argued concerning this for many days, days of the +ending of summer, of shortening evenings, and as they argued autumn +grew nearer and nearer and the green letter from China. + +And at last he promised that when the green letter came he would take +it as usual to the lonely house and then hide somewhere near and creep +to the window at nightfall and hear what the grim folk said; perhaps +they might read aloud the letter from China. And before he had time +to repent of that promise a cold wind came one night and the woods +turned golden, the plover went in bands at evening over the marshes, +the year had turned, and there came the letter from China. Never +before had Amuel felt such misgivings as he went his postman's rounds, +never before had he so much feared the day that took him up to the +wold and the lonely house, while snug by the fire his wife looked +pleasurably forward to curiosity's gratification and hoped to have +news ere nightfall that all the gossips of the village would envy. +One consolation only had Amuel as he set out with a shiver, there was +a letter that day for the last house in the lane. Long did he tarry +there to look at their cheery faces, to hear the sound of their +laughter--you did not hear laughter in wold-hut--and when the last +topic had been utterly talked out and no excuse for lingering remained +he heaved a heavy sigh and plodded grimly away and so came late to +wold-hut. + +He gave his postman's knock on the shut oak door, heard it reverberate +through the silent house, saw the grim elder man and his gristly hand, +gave up the green letter from China, and strode away. There is a clump +of trees growing all alone in the wold, desolate, mournful, by day, by +night full of ill omen, far off from all other trees as wold-hut from +other houses. Near it stands wold-hut. Not today did Amuel stride +briskly on with all the new winds of autumn blowing cheerily past him +till he saw the village before him and broke into song; but as soon as +he was out of sight of the house he turned and stooping behind a fold +of the ground ran back to the desolate wood. There he waited watching +the evil house, just too far to hear voices. The sun was low already. +He chose the window at which he meant to eavesdrop, a little barred +one at the back, close to the ground. And then the pigeons came in; +for a great distance there was no other wood, so numbers shelter +there, though the clump is small and of so evil a look (if they notice +that); the first one frightened Amuel, he felt that it might be a +spirit escaped from torture in some dim parlour of the house that he +watched, his nerves were strained and he feared foolish fears. Then +he grew used to them and the sun set then and the aspect of everything +altered and he felt strange fears again. Behind him was a hollow in +the wold, he watched it darkening; and before him he saw the house +through the trunks of the trees. He waited for them to light their +lamps so that they could not see, when he would steal up softly and +crouch by the little back window. But though every bird was home, +though the night grew chilly as tombs, though a star was out, still +there shone no yellow light from any window. Amuel waited and +shuddered. He did not dare to move till they lit their lamps, they +might be watching. The damp and the cold so strangely affected him +that autumn evening and the remnants of sunset, the stars and the wold +and the whole vault of the sky seemed like a hall that they had +prepared for Fear. He began to feel a dread of prodigious things, and +still no light shone in the evil house. It grew so dark that he +decided to move and make his way to the window in spite of the +stillness and though the house was dark. He rose and while standing +arrested by pains that cramped his limbs, he heard the door swing open +on the far side of the house. He had just time to hide behind the +trunk of a pine when the three grim men approached him and the woman +hobbled behind. Right to the ominous clump of trees they came as +though they loved their blackness, passed through within a yard or two +of the postman and squatted down on their haunches in a ring in the +hollow behind the trees. They lit a fire in the hollow and laid a kid +on the fire and by the light of it Amuel saw brought forth from an +untanned pouch the letter that came from China. The elder opened it +with his gristly hand and intoning words that Amuel did not know, drew +out from it a green powder and sprinkled it on the fire. At once a +flame arose and a wonderful savour, the flames rose higher and +flickered turning the trees all green; and Amuel saw the gods coming +to snuff the savour. While the three grim men prostrated themselves by +their fire, and the horrible woman that was the spouse of one, he saw +the gods coming gauntly over the wold, beheld the gods of Old England +hungrily snuffing the savour, Odin, Balder, and Thor, the gods of the +ancient people, beheld them eye to eye clear and close in the +twilight, and the office of postman fell vacant in +Otford-under-the-Wold. + + + + +THE PRAYER OF BOOB AHEERA + +In the harbour, between the liner and the palms, as the huge ship's +passengers came up from dinner, at moonrise, each in his canoe, Ali +Kareeb Ahash and Boob Aheera passed within knife thrust. + +So urgent was the purpose of Ali Kareeb Ahash that he did not lean +over as his enemy slid by, did not tarry then to settle that long +account; but that Boob Aheera made no attempt to reach him was a +source of wonder to Ali. He pondered it till the liner's electric +lights shone far away behind him with one blaze and the canoe was near +to his destination, and pondered it in vain, for all that the eastern +subtlety of his mind was able to tell him clearly was that it was not +like Boob Aheera to pass him like that. + +That Boob Aheera could have dared to lay such a cause as his before +the Diamond Idol Ali had not conceived, yet as he drew near to the +golden shrine in the palms, that none that come by the great ships +ever found, he began to see more clearly in his mind that this was +where Boob had gone on that hot night. And when he beached his canoe +his fears departed, giving place to the resignation with which he +always viewed Destiny; for there on the white sea sand were the tracks +of another canoe, the edges all fresh and ragged. Boob Aheera had +been before him. Ali did not blame himself for being late, the thing +had been planned before the beginning of time, by gods that knew their +business; only his hate of Boob Aheera increased, his enemy against +whom he had come to pray. And the more his hate increased the more +clearly he saw him, until nothing else could be seen by the eye of his +mind but the dark lean figure, the little lean legs, the grey beard +and neat loin-cloth of Boob Aheera, his enemy. + +That the Diamond Idol should have granted the prayers of such a one he +did not as yet imagine, he hated him merely for his presumptuousness +in approaching the shrine at all, for approaching it before him whose +cause was righteous, for many an old past wrong, but most of all for +the expression of his face and the general look of the man as he has +swept by in his canoe with his double paddle going in the moonlight. + +Ali pushed through the steaming vegetation. The place smelt of +orchids. There is no track to the shrine though many go. If there +were a track the white man would one day find it, and parties would +row to see it whenever a liner came in; and photographs would appear +in weekly papers with accounts of it underneath by men who had never +left London, and all the mystery would be gone away and there would be +nothing novel in this story. + +Ali had scarcely gone a hundred yards through cactus and creeper +underneath the palms when he came to the golden shrine that nothing +guards except the deeps of the forest, and found the Diamond Idol. The +Diamond Idol is five inches high and its base a good inch square, and +it has a greater lustre than those diamonds that Mr. Moses bought last +year for his wife, when he offered her an earldom or the diamonds, and +Jael his wife had answered, "Buy the diamonds and be just plain Mr. +Fortescue." + +Purer than those was its luster and carved as they carve not in +Europe, and the men thereby are poor and held to be fearless--yet they +do not sell that idol. And I may say here that if any one of my +readers should ever come by ship to the winding harbour where the +forts of the Portuguese crumble in infinite greenery, where the baobab +stands like a corpse here and there in the palms, if he goes ashore +where no one has any business to go, and where no one so far as I know +has gone from a liner before (though it's little more than a mile or +so from the pier), and if he finds a golden shrine, which is near +enough to the shore, and a five-inch diamond in it carved in the shape +of a god, it is better to leave it alone and get back safe to the ship +than to sell that diamond idol for any price in the world. + +Ali Kareeb Ahash went into the golden shrine, and when he raised his +head from the seven obeisances that are the due of the idol, behold! +it glowed with such a lustre as only it wears after answering recent +prayer. No native of those parts mistakes the tone of the idol, they +know its varying shades as a tracker knows blood; the moon was +streaming in through the open door and Ali saw it clearly. + +No one had been that night but Boob Aheera. + +The fury of Ali rose and surged to his heart, he clutched his knife +till the hilt of it bruised his hand, yet he did not utter the prayer +that he had made ready about Boob Aheera's liver, for he saw that Boob +Aheera's prayers were acceptable to the idol and knew that divine +protection was over his enemy. + +What Boob Aheera's prayer was he did not know, but he went back to the +beach as fast as one can go through cacti and creepers that climb to +the tops of the palms; and as fast as his canoe could carry him he +went down the winding harbour, till the liner shone beside him as he +passed, and he heard the sound of its band rise up and die, and he +landed and came that night into Boob Aheera's hut. And there he +offered himself as his enemy's slave, and Boob Aheera's slave he is to +this day, and his master has protection from the idol. And Ali rows +to the liners and goes on board to sell rubies made of glass, and thin +suits for the tropics and ivory napkin rings, and Manchester kimonos, +and little lovely shells; and the passengers abuse him because of his +prices; and yet they should not, for all the money cheated by Ali +Kareeb Ahash goes to Boob Aheera, his master. + + + + +EAST AND WEST + +It was dead of night and midwinter. A frightful wind was bringing +sleet from the East. The long sere grasses were wailing. Two specks +of light appeared on the desolate plain; a man in a hansom cab was +driving alone in North China. + +Alone with the driver and the dejected horse. The driver wore a good +waterproof cape, and of course an oiled silk hat, but the man in the +cab wore nothing but evening dress. He did not have the glass door +down because the horse fell so frequently, the sleet had put his cigar +out and it was too cold to sleep; the two lamps flared in the wind. +By the uncertain light of a candle lamp that flickered inside the cab, +a Manchu shepherd that saw the vehicle pass, where he watched his +sheep on the plain in fear of the wolves, for the first time saw +evening dress. And though he saw if dimly, and what he saw was wet, +it was like a backward glance of a thousand years, for as his +civilization is so much older than ours they have presumably passed +through all that kind of thing. + +He watched it stoically, not wondering at a new thing, if indeed it be +new to China, meditated on it awhile in a manner strange to us, and +when he had added to his philosophy what little could be derived from +the sight of this hansom cab, returned to his contemplation of that +night's chances of wolves and to such occasional thoughts as he drew +at times for his comfort out of the legends of China, that have been +preserved for such uses. And on such a night their comfort was +greatly needed. He thought of the legend of a dragon-lady, more fair +than the flowers are, without an equal amongst daughters of men, +humanly lovely to look on although her sire was a dragon, yet one who +traced his descent from gods of the elder days, and so it was that she +went in all her ways divine, like the earliest ones of her race, who +were holier than the emperor. + +She had come down one day out of her little land, a grassy valley +hidden amongst the mountains; by the way of the mountain passes she +came down, and the rocks of the rugged pass rang like little bells +about her, as her bare feet went by, like silver bells to please her; +and the sound was like the sound of the dromedaries of a prince when +they come home at evening--their silver bells are ringing and the +village-folk are glad. She had come down to pick the enchanted poppy +that grew, and grows to this day--if only men might find it--in a +field at the feet of the mountains; if one should pick it happiness +would come to all yellow men, victory without fighting, good wages, +and ceaseless ease. She came down all fair from the mountains; and as +the legend pleasantly passed through his mind in the bitterest hour of +the night, which comes before dawn, two lights appeared and another +hansom went by. + +The man in the second cab was dressed the same as the first, he was +wetter than the first, for the sleet had fallen all night, but evening +dress is evening dress all the world over. The driver wore the same +oiled hat, the same waterproof cape as the other. And when the cab +had passed the darkness swirled back where the two small lamps had +been, and the slush poured into the wheel-tracks and nothing remained +but the speculations of the shepherd to tell that a hansom cab had +been in that part of China; presently even these ceased, and he was +back with the early legends again in contemplation of serener things. + +And the storm and the cold and the darkness made one last effort, and +shook the bones of that shepherd, and rattled the teeth in the head +that mused on the flowery fables, and suddenly it was morning. You +saw the outlines of the sheep all of a sudden, the shepherd counted +them, no wolf had come, you could see them all quite clearly. And in +the pale light of the earliest morning the third hansom appeared, with +its lamps still burning, looking ridiculous in the daylight. They came +out of the East with the sleet and were all going due westwards, and +the occupant of the third cab also wore evening dress. + +Calmly that Manchu shepherd, without curiosity, still less with +wonder, but as one who would see whatever life has to show him, stood +for four hours to see if another would come. The sleet and the East +wind continued. And at the end of four hours another came. The +driver was urging it on as fast as he could, as though he were making +the most of the daylight, his cabby's cape was flapping wildly about +him; inside the cab a man in evening dress was being jolted up and +down by the unevenness of the plain. + +This was of course that famous race from Pittsburg to Piccadilly, +going round by the long way, that started one night after dinner from +Mr. Flagdrop's house, and was won by Mr. Kagg, driving the Honourable +Alfred Fortescue, whose father it will be remembered was Hagar +Dermstein, and became (by Letters Patent) Sir Edgar Fortescue, and +finally Lord St. George. + +The Manchu shepherd stood there till evening, and when he saw that no +more cabs would come, turned homeward in search of food. + +And the rice prepared for him was hot and good, all the more after the +bitter coldness of that sleet. And when he had consumed it her +perused his experience, turning over again in his mind each detail of +the cabs he had seen; and from that his thoughts slipped calmly to the +glorious history of China, going back to the indecorous times before +calmness came, and beyond those times to the happy days of the earth +when the gods and dragons were here and China was young; and lighting +his opium pipe and casting his thoughts easily forward he looked to +the time when the dragons shall come again. + +And for a long while then his mind reposed itself in such a dignified +calm that no thought stirred there at all, from which when he was +aroused he cast off his lethargy as a man emerges from the baths, +refreshed, cleansed and contented, and put away from his musings the +things he had seen on the plain as being evil and of the nature of +dreams, or futile illusion, the results of activity which troubleth +calm. And then he turned his mind toward the shape of God, the One, +the Ineffable, who sits by the lotus lily, whose shape is the shape of +peace, and denieth activity, and went out his thanks to him that he +had cast all bad customs westward out of China as a woman throws +household dirt out of her basket far out into neighbouring gardens. + +From thankfulness he turned to calm again, and out of calm to sleep. + + + + +A PRETTY QUARREL + +On one of those unattained, and unattainable pinnacles that are known +as the Bleaks of Eerie, an eagle was looking East with a hopeful +presage of blood. + +For he knew, and rejoiced in the knowledge, that eastward over the +dells the dwarfs were risen in Ulk, and gone to war with the +demi-gods. + +The demi-gods are they that were born of earthly women, but their +sires are the elder gods who walked of old among men. Disguised they +would go through the villages sometimes in summer evenings, cloaked +and unknown of men; but the younger maidens knew them and always ran +to them singing, for all that their elders said: in evenings long ago +they had danced to the woods of the oak-trees. Their children dwelt +out-of-doors beyond the dells of the bracken, in the cool and heathery +lands, and were now at war with the dwarfs. + +Dour and grim were the demi-gods and had the faults of both parents, +and would not mix with men but claimed the right of their fathers, and +would not play human games but forever were prophesying, and yet were +more frivolous than their mothers were, whom the fairies had long +since buried in wild wood gardens with more than human rites. + +And being irked at their lack of rights and ill content with the land, +and having no power at all over the wind and snow, and caring little +for the powers they had, the demi-gods became idle, greasy, and slow; +and the contemptuous dwarfs despised them ever. + +The dwarfs were contemptuous of all things savouring of heaven, and of +everything that was even partly divine. They were, so it has been +said, of the seed of man; but, being squat and hairy like to the +beasts; they praised all beastly things, and bestiality was shown +reverence among them, so far as reverence was theirs to show. So most +of all they despised the discontent of the demi-gods, who dreamed of +the courts of heaven and power over wind and snow; for what better, +said the dwarfs, could demi-gods do than nose in the earth for roots +and cover their faces with mire, and run with the cheerful goats and +be even as they? + +Now in their idleness caused by their discontent, the seed of the gods +and the maidens grew more discontented still, and only spake of or +cared for heavenly things; until the contempt of the dwarfs, who heard +of all these doings, was bridled no longer and it must needs be war. +They burned spice, dipped in blood and dried, before the chief of +their witches, sharpening their axes, and made war on the demi-gods. + +They passed by night over the Oolnar Mountains, each dwarf with his +good axe, the old flint war-axe of his fathers, a night when no moon +shone, and they went unshod, and swiftly, to come on the demi-gods in +the darkness beyond the dells of Ulk, lying fat and idle and +contemptible. + +And before it was light they found the heathery lands, and the +demi-gods lying lazy all over the side of a hill. The dwarfs stole +towards them warily in the darkness. + +Now the art that the gods love most is the art of war: and when the +seed of the gods and those nimble maidens awoke and found it was war +it was almost as much to them as the godlike pursuits of heaven, +enjoyed in the marble courts; or power over wind and snow. They all +drew out at once their swords of tempered bronze, cast down to them +centuries since on stormy nights when their fathers, drew them and +faced the dwarfs, and casting their idleness from them, fell on them, +sword to axe. And the dwarfs fought hard that night, and bruised the +demi-gods sorely, hacking with those huge axes that had not spared the +oaks. Yet for all the weight of their blows and the cunning of their +adventure, one point they had overlooked: _the demi-gods were +immortal._ + +As the fight rolled on towards morning the fighters were fewer and +fewer, yet for all the blows of the dwarfs men fell upon one side +only. + +Dawn came and the demi-gods were fighting against no more than six, +and the hour that follows dawn, and the last of the dwarfs was gone. + +And when the light was clear on that peak of the Bleaks of Eerie the +eagle left his crag and flew grimly East, and found it was as he had +hoped in the matter of blood. + +But the demi-gods lay down in their heathery lands, for once content +though so far from the courts of heaven, and even half forgot their +heavenly rights, and sighed no more for power over wind and snow. + + + + +HOW THE GODS AVENGED MEOUL KI NING + +Meoul Ki Ning was on his way with a lily from the lotus ponds of Esh +to offer it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +on the road from the pond to the little hill and the temple Aoul +Keroon, Ap Ariph, his enemy, shot him with an arrow from a bow that he +had made out of bamboo, and took his pretty lily up the hill and +offered it to the Goddess of Abundance in her temple Aoul Keroon. And +the Goddess was pleased with the gift, as all women are, and sent +pleasant dreams to Ap Ariph for seven nights straight from the moon. + +And on the seventh night the gods held conclave together, on the +cloudy peaks they held it, above Narn, Ktoon, and Pti. So high their +peak arises that no man heard their voices. They spake on that cloudy +mountain (not the highest hamlet heard them). "What doth the Goddess +of Abundance," (but naming her Lling, as they name her), "what doth +she sending sweet dreams for seven nights to Ap Ariph?" + +And the gods sent for their seer who is all eyes and feet, running to +and fro on the Earth, observing the ways of men, seeing even their +littlest doings, never deeming a doing too little, but knowing the web +of the gods is woven of littlest things. He it is that sees the cat +in the garden of parakeets, the thief in the upper chamber, the sin of +the child with the honey, the women talking indoors and the small +hut's innermost things. Standing before the gods he told them the +case of Ap Ariph and the wrongs of Meoul Ki Ning and the rape of the +lotus lily; he told of the cutting and making of Ap Ariph's bamboo +bow, of the shooting of Meoul Ki Ning, and of how the arrow hit him, +and the smile on the face of Lling when she came by the lotus bloom. + +And the gods were wroth with Ap Ariph and swore to avenge Ki Ning. + +And the ancient one of the gods, he that is older than Earth, called +up the thunder at once, and raised his arms and cried out on the gods' +high windy mountain, and prophesied on those rocks with runes that +were older than speech, and sang in his wrath old songs that he had +learned in storm from the sea, when only that peak of the gods in the +whole of the earth was dry; and he swore that Ap Ariph should die that +night, and the thunder raged about him, and the tears of Lling were +vain. + +The lightning stroke of the gods leaping earthward seeking Ap Ariph +passed near to his house but missed him. A certain vagabond was down +from the hills, singing songs in the street near by the house of Ap +Ariph, songs of a former folk that dwelt once, they say, in those +valleys, and begging for rice and curds; it was him the lightning hit. + +And the gods were satisfied, and their wrath abated, and their thunder +rolled away and the great black clouds dissolved, and the ancient one +of the gods went back to his age-old sleep, and morning came, and the +birds and the light shone on the mountain, and the peak stood clear to +see, the serene home of the gods. + + + + +THE GIFT OF THE GODS + +There was once a man who sought a boon of the gods. For peace was +over the world and all things savoured of sameness, and the man was +weary at heart and sighed for the tents and the warfields. Therefore +he sought a boon of the ancient gods. And appearing before them he +said to them, "Ancient gods; there is peace in the land where I dwell, +and indeed to the uttermost parts, and we are full weary of peace. O +ancient gods, grant us war!" + +And the ancient gods made him a war. + +And the man went forth with his sword, and behold it was even war. And +the man remembered the little things that he knew, and thought of the +quiet days that there used to be, and at night on the hard ground +dreamed of the things of peace. And dearer and dearer grew the wonted +things, the dull but easeful things of the days of peace, and +remembering these he began to regret the war, and sought once more a +boon of the ancient gods, and appearing before them he said: "O +ancient gods, indeed but a man loves best the days of peace. Therefore +take back your war and give us peace, for indeed of all your +blessedness peace is best." + +And the man returned again to the haunts of peace. + +But in a while the man grew weary of peace, of the things that he used +to know, and the savour of sameness again; and sighing again for the +tents, and appearing once more to the gods, he said to them: "Ancient +gods; we do not love your peace, for indeed the days are dull, and a +man is best at war." + +And the gods made him a war. + +And there were drums again, the smoke of campfires again, wind in the +waste again, the sound of horses of war, burning cities again, and the +things that wanderers know; and the thoughts of that man went home to +the ways of peace; moss upon lawns again, light in old spires again, +sun upon gardens again, flowers in pleasant woods and sleep and the +paths of peace. + +And once more the man appeared to the ancient gods and sought from +them one more boon, and said to them: "Ancient gods; indeed but the +world and we are a-weary of war and long for the ancient ways and the +paths of peace." + +So the gods took back their war and gave him peace. + +But the man took counsel one day and communed long with himself and +said to himself: "Behold, the wishes I wish, which the gods grant, are +not to be much desired; and if the gods should one day grant a wish +and never revoke it, which is a way of the gods, I should be sorely +tried because of my wish; my wishes are dangerous wishes and not to be +desired." + +And therefore he wrote an anonymous letter to the gods, writing: "O +ancient gods; this man that hath four times troubled you with his +wishes, wishing for peace and war, is a man that hath no reverence for +the gods, speaking ill of them on days when they do not hear, and +speaking well of them on holy days and at the appointed hours when the +gods are hearkening to prayer. Therefore grant no more wishes to this +impious man." + +And the days of peace wore on and there arose again from the earth, +like mist in the autumn from the fields that generations have +ploughed, the savour of sameness again. And the man went forth one +morning and appeared once more to the gods, and cried: "O ancient +gods; give us but one war again, for I would be back to the camps and +debateable borders of lands." + +And the gods said: "We hear not well of your way of life, yea ill +things have come to our hearing, so that we grant no more the wishes +you wish." + + + + +THE SACK OF EMERALDS + +One bad October night in the high wolds beyond Wiltshire, with a north +wind chaunting of winter, with the old leaves letting go their hold +one by one from branches and dropping down to decay, with a mournful +sound of owls, and in fearsome loneliness, there trudged in broken +boots and in wet and windy rags an old man, stooping low under a sack +of emeralds. It were easy to see had you been travelling late on that +inauspicious night, that the burden of the sack was far too great for +the poor old man that bore it. And had you flashed a lantern in his +face there was a look there of hopelessness and fatigue that would +have told you it was no wish of his that kept him tottering on under +that bloated sack. + +When the menacing look of the night and its cheerless sounds, and the +cold, and the weight of the sack, had all but brought him to the door +of death, and he had dropped his sack onto the road and was dragging +it on behind him, just as he felt that his final hour was come, and +come (which was worse) as he held the accursed sack, just then he saw +the bulk and the black shape of the Sign of the Lost Shepherd loom up +by the ragged way. He opened the door and staggered into the light +and sank on a bench with his huge sack beside him. + +All this you had seen had you been on that lonely road, so late on +those bitter wolds, with their outlines vast and mournful in the dark, +and their little clumps of trees sad with October. But neither you +nor I were out that night. I did not see the poor old man and his +sack until he sank down all of a heap in the lighted inn. + +And Yon the blacksmith was there; and the carpenter, Willie Losh; and +Jackers, the postman's son. And they gave him a glass of beer. And +the old man drank it up, still hugging his emeralds. + +And at last they asked him what he had in his sack, the question he +clearly dreaded; and he only clasped yet tighter the sodden sack and +mumbled he had potatoes. + +"Potatoes," said Yon the blacksmith. + +"Potatoes," said Willie Losh. + +And when he heard the doubt that was in their voices the old man +shivered and moaned. + +"Potatoes, did you say?" said the postman's son. And they all three +rose and tried to peer at the sack that the rain-soaked wayfarer so +zealously sheltered. + +And from the old man's fierceness I had said that, had it not been for +that foul night on the roads and the weight he had carried so far and +the fearful winds of October, he had fought with the blacksmith, the +carpenter and the postman's son, all three, till he beat them away +from his sack. And weary and wet as he was he fought them hard. + +I should no doubt have interfered; and yet the three men meant no harm +to the wayfarer, but resented the reticence that he displayed to them +though they had given him beer; it was to them as though a master key +had failed to open a cupboard. And, as for me, curiosity held me down +to my chair and forbade me to interfere on behalf of the sack; for the +old man's furtive ways, and the night out of which he came, and the +hour of his coming, and the look of his sack, all made me long as much +to know what he had, as even the blacksmith, the carpenter and the +postman's son. + +And then they found the emeralds. They were all bigger than hazel +nuts, hundreds and hundreds of them: and the old man screamed. + +"Come, come, we're not thieves," said the blacksmith. + +"We're not thieves," said the carpenter. + +"We're not thieves," said the postman's son. + +And with awful fear on his face the wayfarer closed his sack, +whimpering over his emeralds and furtively glancing round as though +the loss of his secret were and utterly deadly thing. And then they +asked him to give them just one each, just one huge emerald each, +because they had given him a glass of beer. Then to see the wayfarer +shrink against his sack and guard it with clutching fingers one would +have said that he was a selfish man, were it not for the terror that +was freezing his face. I have seen men look sheer at Death with far +less fear. + +And they took their emerald all three, one enormous emerald each, +while the old man hopelessly struggled till he saw his three emeralds +go, and fell to the floor and wept, a pitiable, sodden heap. + +And about that time I began to hear far off down the windy road, by +which that sack had come, faintly at first and slowly louder and +louder, the click clack clop of a lame horse coming nearer. Click +clack clop and a loose shoe rattling, the sound of a horse too weary +to be out upon such a night, too lame to be out at all. + +Click clack clop. And all of a sudden the old wayfarer heard it; +heard it above the sound of his won sobbing, and at once went white to +the lips. Such sudden fear as blanched him in a moment struck right +to the hearts of all there. They muttered to him that it was only +their play, they hastily whispered excuses, they asked him what was +wrong, but seemed scarcely to hope for an answer, nor did he speak, +but sat with a frozen stare, all at once dry-eyed, a monument to +terror. + +Nearer and nearer came the click clack clop. + +And when I saw the expression of that man's face and how its horror +deepened as the ominous sound drew nearer, then I knew that something +was wrong. And looking for the last time upon all four I saw the +wayfarer horror-struck by his sack and the other three crowding round +to put their huge emeralds back then, even on such a night, I slipped +away from the inn. + +Outside the bitter wind roared in my ears, and close in the darkness +the horse went click clack clop. + +And as soon as my eyes could see at all in the night I saw a man in a +huge hat looped up in front, wearing a sword in a scabbard shabby and +huge, and looking blacker than the darkness, riding on a lean horse +slowly up to the inn. Whether his were the emeralds, or who he was, +or why he rode a lame horse on such a night, I did not stop to +discover, but went at once from the inn as he strode in his great +black riding coat up to the door. + +And that was the last that was ever seen of the wayfarer; the +blacksmith, the carpenter or the postman's son. + + + + +THE OLD BROWN COAT + +My friend, Mr. Douglas Ainslie, tells me that Sir James Barrie once +told him this story. The story, or rather the fragment, was as +follows. + +A man strolling into an auction somewhere abroad, I think it must have +been France, for they bid in francs, found they were selling old +clothes. And following some idle whim he soon found himself bidding +for an old coat. A man bid against him, he bid against the man. Up +and up went the price till the old coat was knocked down to him for +twenty pounds. As he went away with the coat he saw the other bidder +looking at him with an expression of fury. + +That's as far as the story goes. But how, Mr. Ainslie asked me, did +the matter develop, and why that furious look? I at once made +enquiries at a reliable source and have ascertained that the man's +name was Peters, who thus oddly purchased a coat, and that he took it +to the Rue de Rivoli, to a hotel where he lodged, from the little low, +dark auction room by the Seine in which he concluded the bargain. +There he examined it, off and on, all day and much of the next +morning, a light brown overcoat with tails, without discovering any +excuse, far less a reason, for having spent twenty pounds on so worn a +thing. And late next morning to his sitting room looking out on the +Gardens of the Tuileries the man with the furious look was ushered in. + +Grim he stood, silent and angry, till the guiding waiter went. Not +till then did he speak, and his words came clear and brief, welling up +from deep emotions. + +"How did you dare to bid against me?" + +His name was Santiago. And for many moments Peters found no excuse to +offer, no apology, nothing in extenuation. Lamely at last, weakly, +knowing his argument to be of no avail, he muttered something to the +intent that Mr. Santiago could have outbid him. + +"No," said the stranger. "We don't want all the town in this. This +is a matter between you and me." He paused, then added in his fierce, +curt way: "A thousand pounds, no more." + +Almost dumbly Peters accepted the offer and, pocketing the thousand +pounds that was paid him, and apologizing for the inconvenience he had +unwittingly caused, tried to show the stranger out. But Santiago +strode swiftly on before him, taking the coat, and was gone. + +There followed between Peters and his second thoughts another long +afternoon of bitter reproaches. Why ever had he let go so +thoughtlessly of a garment that so easily fetched a thousand pounds? +And the more he brooded on this the more clearly did he perceive that +he had lost an unusual opportunity of a first class investment of a +speculative kind. He knew men perhaps better than he knew materials; +and, though he could not see in that old brown coat the value of so +much as a thousand pounds, he saw far more than that in the man's +eager need for it. An afternoon of brooding over lost opportunities +led to a night of remorse, and scarcely had day dawned when he ran to +his sitting-room to see if he still had safe the card of Santiago. And +there was the neat and perfumed _carte de visite_ with Santiago's +Parisian address in the corner. + +That morning he sought him out, and found Santiago seated at a table +with chemicals and magnifying glasses beside him examining, as it lay +spread wide before him, the old brown coat. And Peters fancied he +wore a puzzled air. + +They came at once to business. Peters was rich and asked Santiago to +name his price, and that small dark man admitted financial straits, +and so was willing to sell for thirty thousand pounds. A little +bargaining followed, the price came down and the old brown coat +changed hands once more, for twenty thousand pounds. + +Let any who may be inclined to doubt my story understand that in the +City, as any respectable company promoter will tell them, twenty +thousand pounds is invested almost daily with less return for it than +an old tail coat. And, whatever doubts Mr. Peters felt that day about +the wisdom of his investment, there before him lay that tangible +return, that something that may be actually fingered and seen, which +is so often denied to the investor in gold mines and other Selected +Investments. Yet as the days wore on and the old coat grew no +younger, nor any more wonderful, nor the least useful, but more and +more like an ordinary old coat, Peters began once more to doubt his +astuteness. Before the week was out his doubts had grown acute. And +then one morning, Santiago returned. A man, he said, had just arrived +from Spain, a friend unexpected all of a sudden in Paris, from whom he +might borrow money: and would Peters resell the coat for thirty +thousand pounds? + +It was then that Peters, seeing his opportunity, cast aside the +pretence that he had maintained for so long of knowing something about +the mysterious coat, and demanded to know its properties. Santiago +swore that he knew not, and repeatedly swore the same by many sacred +names; but when Peters as often threatened not to sell, Santiago at +last drew out a thin cigar and, lighting it and settling himself in a +chair, told all he knew of the coat. + +He had been on its tracks for weeks with suspicions growing all the +time that it was no ordinary coat, and at last he had run it to earth +in that auction room but would not bid for it more than twenty pounds +for fear of letting every one into the secret. What the secret was he +swore he did not know, but this much he knew all along, that the +weight of the coat was absolutely nothing; and he had discovered by +testing it with acids that the brown stuff of which the coat was made +was neither cloth nor silk nor any known material, and would neither +burn nor tear. He believed it to be some undiscovered element. And +the properties of the coat which he was convinced were marvellous he +felt sure of discovering within another week by means of experiments +with his chemicals. Again he offered thirty thousand pounds, to be +paid within two or three days if all went well. And then they started +haggling together as business men will. + +And all the morning went by over the gardens of the Tuileries and the +afternoons came on, and only by two o'clock they arrived at an +understanding, on a basis, as they called it, of thirty thousand +guineas. And the old tail coat was brought out and spread on the +table, and they examined it together and chatted about its properties, +all the more friendly for their strenuous argument. And Santiago was +rising up to go, and Peters pleasantly holding out his hand, when a +step was heard on the stair. It echoed up to the room, the door +opened. And an elderly labouring man came stumping in. He walked +with difficulty, almost like a bather who has been swimming and +floating all morning and misses the buoyancy of the water when he has +come to land. He stumped up to the table without speaking and there at +once caught sight of the old brown coat. + +"Why," he said, "that be my old coat." + +And without another word he put it on. In the fierce glare of his +eyes as he fitted on that coat, carefully fastening the buttons, +buttoning up the flap of a pocket here, unbuttoning one there, neither +Peters nor Santiago found a word to say. They sat there wondering how +they had dared to bid for that brown tail coat, how they had dared to +buy it, even to touch it, they sat there silent without a single +excuse. And with no word more the old labourer stumped across the +room, opened wide the double window that looked on the Tuileries +gardens and, flashing back over his shoulder one look that was full of +scorn, stumped away up through the air at an angle of forty degrees. + +Peters and Santiago saw him bear to his left from the window; passing +diagonally over the Rue de Rivoli and over a corner of the Tuileries +gardens; they saw him clear the Louvre, and thence they dumbly watched +him still slanting upwards, stepping out with a firmer and more +confident stride as he dwindled and dwindled away with his old brown +coat. + +Neither spoke till he was no more than a speck in the sky far away +over Paris going South Eastwards. + +"Well I am blowed," said Peters. + +But Santiago sadly shook his head. "I knew it was a good coat," he +said. "I _knew_ it was a good coat." + + + + +AN ARCHIVE OF THE OLDER MYSTERIES + +It is told in the Archive of the Older Mysteries of China that one of +the house of Tlang was cunning with sharpened iron and went to the +green jade mountains and carved a green jade god. And this was in the +cycle of the Dragon, the seventy-eighth year. + +And for nearly a hundred years men doubted the green jade god, and +then they worshipped him for a thousand years; and after that they +doubted him again, and the green jade god made a miracle and whelmed +the green jade mountains, sinking them down one evening at sunset into +the earth so that there is only a marsh where the green jade mountains +were. And the marsh is full of the lotus. + +By the side of this lotus marsh, just as it glitters at evening, walks +Li La Ting, the Chinese girl, to bring the cows home; she goes behind +them singing of the river Lo Lang Ho. And thus she sings of the +river, even of Lo Lang Ho: she sings that he is indeed of all rivers +the greatest, born of more ancient mountains than even the wise men +know, swifter than hares, more deep than the sea, the master of other +rivers perfumed even as roses and fairer than the sapphires around the +neck of a prince. And then she would pray to the river Lo Lang Ho, +master of rivers and rival of the heaven at dawn, to bring her down in +a boat of light bamboo a lover rowing out of the inner land in a +garment of yellow silk with turquoises at his waist, young and merry +and idle, with a face as yellow as gold and a ruby in his cap with +lanterns shining at dusk. + +Thus she would pray of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho as she went +behind the cows at the edge of the lotus marshes and the green jade +god under the lotus marshes was jealous of the lover that the maiden +Li La Ting would pray for of an evening to the river Lo Lang Ho, and +he cursed the river after the manner of gods and turned it into a +narrow and evil smelling stream. + +And all this happened a thousand years ago, and Lo Lang Ho is but a +reproach among travelers and the story of that great river is +forgotten, and what became of the maiden no tale saith though all men +think she became a goddess of jade to sit and smile at a lotus on a +lotus carven of stone by the side of the green jade god far under the +marshes upon the peaks of the mountains, but women know that her ghost +still haunts the lotus marshes on glittering evenings, singing of Lo +Lang Ho. + + + + +A CITY OF WONDER + +Past the upper corner of a precipice the moon rode into view. Night +had for some while now hooded the marvelous city. They had planned it +to be symmetrical, its maps were orderly, near; in two dimensions, +that is length and breadth, its streets met and crossed each other +with regular exactitude, with all the dullness of the science of man. +The city had laughed as it were and shaken itself free and in the +third dimension had soared away to consort with all the careless, +irregular things that know not man for their master. + +Yet even there, even at those altitudes, man had still clung to his +symmetry, still claimed that these mountains were houses; in orderly +rows the thousand windows stood watching each other precisely, all +orderly, all alike, lest any should guess by day that there might be +mystery here. So they stood in the daylight. The sun set, still they +were orderly, as scientific and regular as the labour of only man and +the bees. The mists darken at evening. And first the Woolworth +Building goes away, sheer home and away from any allegiance to man, to +take his place among mountains; for I saw him stand with the lower +slopes invisible in the gloaming, while only his pinnacles showed up +in the clearer sky. Thus only mountains stand. + +Still all the windows of the other buildings stood in their regular +rows--all side by side in silence, not yet changed, as though waiting +one furtive moment to step from the schemes of man, to slip back to +mystery and romance again as cats do when they steal on velvet feet +away from familiar hearths in the dark of the moon. + +Night fell, and the moment came. Someone lit a window, far up another +shone with its orange glow. Window by window, and yet not nearly all. +Surely if modern man with his clever schemes held any sway here still +he would have turned one switch and lit them all together; but we are +back with the older man of whom far songs tell, he whose spirit is kin +to strange romances and mountains. One by one the windows shine from +the precipices; some twinkle, some are dark; man's orderly schemes +have gone, and we are amongst vast heights lit by inscrutable beacons. + +I have seen such cities before, and I have told of them in _The Book +of Wonder_. + +Here in New York a poet met a welcome. + + + + + ** BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW ** + +PUBLISHER'S NOTE + +Beyond the fields we know, in the Lands of Dream, lies the Valley of +the Yann where the mighty river of that name, rising in the Hills of +Hap, idleing its way by massive dream-evoking amethyst cliffs, +orchid-laden forests, and ancient mysterious cities, comes to the Gates +of Yann and passes to the sea. + +Some years since a poet visiting that land voyaged down the Yann on a +trading bark named the _Bird of the River_ and returning safe to +Ireland, set down in a tale that is called _Idle Days on the Yann_, +the wonders of that voyage. Now the tale being one of marvellous +beauty, found its way into a volume we call _A Dreamer's Tales_ where +it may be found to this day with other wondrous tales of that same +poet. + +As the days went by the lure of the river and pleasant memories of his +shipmates bore in with a constant urge on the soul of the poet that he +might once more journey Beyond the Fields We Know and come to the +floor of Yann; and one day it fell out that turning into Go-by Street +that leads up from the Embankment toward the Strand and which you and +I always do go by and perhaps never see in passing, he found the door +which one enters on the way to the Land of Dream. + +Twice of late has Lord Dunsany entered that door in Go-by Street and +returned to the Valley of the Yann and each time come back with a +tale; one, of his search for the _Bird of the River,_ the other of the +mighty hunter who avenged the destruction of Perdondaris, where on his +earlier voyage the captain tied up his ship and traded within the +city. That all may be clear to those who read these new tales and to +whom no report has previously come Beyond the Fields We Know the +publishers reprint in this volume _Idle Days on the Yann_. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + +So I came down through the wood to the bank of Yann and found, as had +been prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her +cable. + +The captain sate cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar +lying beside him in its jewelled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to +spread the nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of +Yann, and all the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of +the evening descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous +abode of distant gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious +city, into the wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered +the greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to +inquire concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the +most holy gods of whatever land he had come from. And the captain +answered that he came from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that +were the least and humblest, who seldom sent the famine or the +thunder, and were easily appeased with little battles. And I told how +I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, whereat the captain and all +the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are no such places in all +the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock me, I explained that +my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, about a beautiful +city called Golthoth the Damned, which was sentinelled all round by +wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly desolate for years and +years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke in anger and could +never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as far as Pungar +Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which trades with +the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon the +abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that +evening I bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay +him for my fare if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as +far as the cliffs by the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate +of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven +had held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the +imminent approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the +jungle on either bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches +of the trees were silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the +forest were going up and down, and the great stars came gleaming out +to look on the face of Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and +hung them round the ship, and the light flashed out on a sudden and +dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed along his marshy banks all +suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the upper air, and saw the +distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that softly cloaked the +jungle, before they returned again into their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, +but five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together +five or six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different +faiths, so that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As +soon as any one had finished his prayer, another of the same faith +would take his place. Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended +heads under the fluttering sail, while the central stream of the River +Yann took them on towards the sea, and their prayers rose up from +among the lanterns and went towards the stars. And behind them in the +after end of the ship the helmsman prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, +which is prayed by all who follow his trade upon the River Yann, of +whatever faith they be. And the captain prayed to his little lesser +gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous +God there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were +being humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, +whom the men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now +unworshipped and alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all +men who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers +comforted our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elated with +molten snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, +and the Marn and Migris were swollen full with floods; and he bore us +in his might past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the +midstream of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all +awoke, and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of +Yann and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. +Then while the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the +gate of Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the +guard. A sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, +armed with a rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered +with dust. Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was +over all of it. The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on +doorsteps; in the market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of +incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of the echoes of +distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the region of +Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to +ask him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because +none might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the +_Bird of the River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering +over her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out +again, and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the +sun was moving towards his heights, and there had reached us on the +River Yann the song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend +him in his progress round the world. For the little creatures that +have many legs had spread their gauze wings easily on the air, as a +man rests his elbows on a balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial +praises to the sun, or else they moved together on the air in wavering +dances intricate and swift, or turned aside to avoid the onrush of +some drop of water that a breeze had shaken from a jungle orchid, +chilling the air and driving it before it, as it fell whirring in its +rush to the earth; but all the while they sang triumphantly. "For the +day is for us," they said, "whether our great and sacred father the +Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, or whether all +the world shall end to-night." And there sang all those whose notes +are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more numerous +notes have never been heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold +and rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, +but danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of +distant conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some +encampment of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond +that would never abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple +orchids and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the +jungle's decay. And they, too, were among those whose voices are not +discernible by human ears. And as they floated above the river, going +from forest to forest, their splendour was matched by the inimical +beauty of the birds who darted out to pursue them. Or sometimes they +settled on the white and wax-like blooms of the plant that creeps and +clambers about the trees of the forest; and their purple wings flashed +out on the great blossoms as, when the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, +the gleaming silks flash out upon the snow, where the crafty merchants +spread them one by one to astonish the mountaineers of the Hills of +Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent a drowsiness. The river monsters +along the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched +a pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and +then went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an +awning between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of +his own city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen +asleep. The captain offered me the shade of his pavilion with the gold +tassels, and there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was +taking merchandise to Perdondaris, and that he would take back to fair +Belzoond things appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I +watched through the pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and +butterflies that crossed and recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, +and dreamed that I was a monarch entering his capital underneath +arches of flags, and all the musicians of the world were there, +playing melodiously their instruments; but no one cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens +upon the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to +the steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three +sides of which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court +and along the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity +and care according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city +was of ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had +broken it remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and +everywhere were represented in stone beasts that have long since +passed away from Earth--the dragon, the griffin, and the hippogriffin, +and the different species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, +whether material or custom, that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no +notice at all of us as we went by, but continued their processions and +ceremonies in the ancient city, and the sailors, knowing their custom, +took no notice of them. But I called, as we came near, to one who +stood beside the water's edge, asking him what men did in Astahahn and +what their merchandise was, and with whom they traded. He said, "Here +we have fettered and manacled Time, who would otherwise slay the +gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and +would say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with +ancient custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted +onwards and left Astahahn, and we found in greater quantities such +birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in their +plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had +appeared over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at +the trees with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, +chilling the air; and white shapes moved away into the jungle as +though the ghosts of shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in +the darkness for the spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on +the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted +summit of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the +slime in which they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the +great beasts of the jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while +since were gone to rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed +night seemed already to have fallen, though the sun which had +disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions +as soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the +widgeon began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, +and then would suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by +us the small and arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of +flocks of geese, which the sailors told me had recently come in from +crossing over the Lispasian ranges; every year they come by the same +way, close by the peak of Mluna, leaving it to the left, and the +mountain eagles know the way they come and--men say--the very hour, +and every year they expect them by the same way as soon as the snows +have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it grew so dark that we +saw these birds no more, and only heard the whirring of their wings, +and of countless others besides, until they all settled down along the +banks of the river, and it was the hour when the birds of the night +went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the night, and huge +moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments their gorgeous +colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would pass into +the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors prayed, +and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our lives +into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdondaris, that +famous city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and +notable, and all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the +jungle that was so long with us. And we were anchored by the +marketplace, and the captain's merchandise was all displayed, and a +merchant of Perdondaris stood looking at it. And the captain had his +scimitar in his hand, and was beating with it in anger upon the deck, +and the splinters were flying up from the white planks; for the +merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that the captain +declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, whom he +now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great +fatness, showing his pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought +not at all, but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to +whom he wished to sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, +leaving no remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly +the thick toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the +floor, and tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the +merchant said if he offered a piffek more the poor folk must go +without their toomarunds when the winter came, and without their +tollub in the evenings, or else he and his aged father must starve +together. Thereat the captain lifted his scimitar to his own throat, +saying that he was now a ruined man, and that nothing remained to him +but death. And while he was carefully lifting he beard with his left +hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and said that rather +than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had conceived an +especial love when first he saw the manner in which he handled his +ship, he and his aged father should starve together and therefore he +offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his +gods that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his +little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain +wept, for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant +also wept, for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of +how soon he would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his +hands, and eyed the tollub again between his fingers. And so the +bargain was concluded, and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, +paying for them out of a great clinking purse. And these were packed +up into bales again, and three of the merchant's slaves carried them +upon their heads into the city. And all the while the sailors had sat +silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon the deck, eagerly watching the +bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction arose among them, and they +began to compare it among themselves with other bargains that they had +known. And I found out from them that there are seven merchants in +Perdondaris, and that they had all come to the captain one by one +before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately against +the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the wine +of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and +all made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because +he knew that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the +bargain that he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their +native land, and soon their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and +the little neighbouring cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little glass some heavy yellow +wine from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. +Thick and sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a +mighty, ardent fire which had authority over souls of men. It was +made, the captain told me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of +a family of six who lived in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once +in these mountains, he said, he followed the spoor of a bear, and he +came suddenly on a man of that family who had hunted the same bear, +and he was at the end of a narrow way with precipice all about him, +and his spear was sticking in the bear, and the wound not fatal, and +he had no other weapon. And the bear was walking towards the man, very +slowly because his wound irked him--yet he was now very close. And +what the captain did he would not say, but every year as soon as the +snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian Min, that man comes +down to the market in the plains, and always leaves for the captain in +the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide +of the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not +now minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. +Towards evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdondaris before we left +in the morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore +alone. Certainly Perdondaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed +by a wall of great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for +troops to walk in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen +strong towers on it in every mile, and copper plaques low down where +men could read them, telling in all the languages of those parts of +the Earth--one language on each plaque--the tale of how an army once +attacked Perdondaris and what befell that army. Then I entered +Perdondaris and found all the people dancing, clad in brilliant silks, +and playing on the tam-bang as they danced. For a fearful thunderstorm +had terrified them while I slept, and the fires of death, they said, +had danced over Perdondaris, and now the thunder had gone leaping away +large and black and hideous, they said, over the distant hills, and +had turned round snarling at them, showing his gleaming teeth, and had +stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they rang as though they +had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in their merry +dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God that we +know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his hills." +And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon the +marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves +were fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I +came to a silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were +many wonders in Perdondaris, and I would have stayed and seen them +all, but as I came to the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it +a huge ivory gate. For a while I paused and admired it, then I came +nearer and perceived the dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of +one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I +ran I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of +the fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps +even then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I +felt safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up +from the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of +Perdondaris still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain +and told him quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at +once about the gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; +and I told him how the weight of the thing was such that it could not +have been brought from afar, and the captain knew that it had not been +there a year ago. We agreed that such a beast could never have been +killed by any assault of man, and that the gate must have been a +fallen tusk, and one fallen near and recently. Therefore he decided +that it were better to flee at once; so he commanded, and the sailors +went to the sails, and others raised the anchor to the deck, and just +as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the last rays of the sun we +left Perdondaris, that famous city. And night came down and cloaked +Perdondaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things have happened +will never see it again; for I have heard since that something swift +and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdondaris in a day--towers, and +walls, and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with +stars. And with the night there arose the helmsman's song. As soon as +he had prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely +night. But first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is +what I remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble +equivalent of the rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic +nights + + To whatever god may hear. + + Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their + way be dark or whether through storm: whether their perils be of + beast or of rock: or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: + wherever the tiller is cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors + sleep or helmsman watch: guard, guide, and return us to the old + land, that has known us: to the far homes that we know. + + To all the gods that are. + + To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster +of the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. +And he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old +dragon-legends of Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little +tales and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over +the black jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great +bands of stars that looked on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl +and Duz, and of the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and +the flocks that they had, and the loves that they had loved, and all +the little things that they hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in +skins and blankets listening to those songs, and watching the +fantastic shapes of the great trees like to black giants stalking +through the night, I suddenly fell asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the +flow of the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves +appeared; for Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, +and knew that their ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet +the merry wild Irillion rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off +from him the torpid sleep that had come upon him in the hot and +scented jungle, and forgot its orchids and its butterflies, and swept +on turbulent, expectant, strong; and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills +of Glorm came glittering into view. And now the sailors were waking up +from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then the helmsman laid him down to +sleep while a comrade took his place, and they all spread over him +their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came +down dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And +now we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the +sailors stood up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own +far-off Acroctian hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the +plains stands fair Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder +and louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down +from the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, +and wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up +near the mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then +she went away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, +and opened upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the +light of day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the +marshes of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and +slowly, and the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the +dreariness of the marshes. + +At last the Irusian Mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then the night came down +over the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We +heard the Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and +Golzunda, then all but the helmsman slept. And villages scattered +along the banks of the Yann heard all that night in the helmsman's +unknown tongue the little songs of cities that they know not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I +remembered why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching +day, according to all forseen probabilities, we should come to +Bar-Wul-Yann, and I should part from the captain and his sailors. And I +had liked the man because he had given me of his yellow wine that was +set apart among his sacred things, and many a story he had told me +about his fair Belzoond between the Acrotian hills and the Hian Min. +And I had liked the ways that his sailors had, and the prayers that +they prayed at evening side by side, grudging not one another their +alien gods. And I had a liking too for the tender way in which they +often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is good that men should love their +native cities and the little hills that hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acrotian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others +in the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by +the fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced +us all alike outside Perdondaris, a danger that, as things have +happened, was very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; +and the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled a +while; then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northwards, so +that the sailors had to hoist the sails, and the wind being +favourable, we still held onwards. + +And we passed Gondara and Narl and Hoz. And we saw memorable, holy +Golnuz, and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the +last of the cities in the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us +once again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over +all things, and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and +found that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that +is known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the +people of Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering +at their own streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had +crowded all the ways, and every one was doing some strange thing. Some +danced astounding dances that they had learned from the desert wind, +rapidly curving and swirling till the eye could follow no longer. +Others played upon instruments beautiful wailing tunes that were full +of horror, which souls had taught them lost by night in the desert, +that strange far desert from which the Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any +part of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were +made were of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were +barbed at the tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that +seemed to be akin to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear +that haunts dark places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told +one another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew aught of +their language, yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, +and as the tale wound on, the whites of their eyes showed vividly in +terror as the eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then +the teller of the tale would smile and stop, and another would tell +his story, and the teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with +fear. And if some deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would +greet him like a brother, and the snake would seem to give his +greetings to them before he passed on again. Once that most fierce and +lethal of tropic snakes, the giant lythra, came out of the jungle and +all down the street, the central street of Nen, and none of the +Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played sonorously on +drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and the snake +moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one +of them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in +silence with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly +draw from his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen +could do nothing of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they +greet the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of +Mloon, but it was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain +might return from Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on +board and continued down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, +for we were thinking of our parting, which should be for long, and we +watched instead the splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a +ruddy gold, but a faint mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into +it poured the smoke of the little jungle cities, and the smoke of them +met together in the mist and joined into one haze, which became +purple, and was lit by the sun, as the thoughts of men become hallowed +by some great and sacred thing. Sometimes one column from a lonely +house would rise up higher than the cities' smoke, and gleam by itself +in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight +that I had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either +shore two cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing +in the light of the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of +mountainous altitude, and they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling +between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance +through that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where +little fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sunset and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld-and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the +colours of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those +cliffs was to me as some chord of music that a master's hand had +launched from the violin, and which carries to Heaven of Faery the +tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no farther, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back +again to his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian +Min, and I to find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields +that all poets know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through +whose windows, looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and +looking eastwards see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, +going range on range into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the +kingdom of Fantasy, which pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we +should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped +hands, uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in +his country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to +his little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless +Belzoond. + + + + +A SHOP IN GO-BY STREET + +I said I must go back to Yann again and see if _Bird of the River_ +still plies up and down and whether her bearded captain commands her +still or whether he sits in the gate of fair Belzoond drinking at +evening the marvellous yellow wine that the mountaineer brings down +from the Hian Min. And I wanted to see the sailors again who came +from Durl and Duz and to hear from their lips what befell Perdondaris +when its doom came up without warning from the hills and fell on that +famous city. And I wanted to hear the sailors pray at night each to +his own god, and to feel the wind of the evening coolly arise when the +sun went flaming away from that exotic river. For I thought never +again to see the tide of Yann, but when I gave up politics not long +ago the wings of my fancy strengthened, though they had erstwhile +drooped, and I had hopes of coming behind the East once more where +Yann like a proud white war-horse goes through the Lands of Dream. + +Yet I had forgotten the way to those little cottages on the edge of +the fields we know whose upper windows, though dim with antique +cobwebs, look out on the fields we know not and are the starting-point +of all adventure in all the Lands of Dream. + +I therefore made enquiries. And so I came to be directed to the shop +of a dreamer who lives not far from the Embankment in the City. Among +so many streets as there are in the city it is little wonder that +there is one that has never been seen before; it is named Go-by Street +and runs out of the Strand if you look very closely. Now when you +enter this man's shop you do not go straight to the point but you ask +him to sell you something, and if it is anything with which he can +supply you he hands it you and wishes you good-morning. It is his +way. And many have been deceived by asking for some unlikely thing, +such as the oyster-shell from which was taken one of those single +pearls that made the gates of Heaven in Revelations, and finding that +the old man had it in stock. + +He was comatose when I went into the shop, his heavy lids almost +covered his little eyes; he sat, and his mouth was open. I said, "I +want some of Abama and Pharpah, rivers of Damascus." "How much?" he +said. "Two and a half yards of each, to be delivered to my flat." +"That is very tiresome," he muttered, "very tiresome. We do not stock +it in that quantity." "Then I will take all you have," I said. + +He rose laboriously and looked among some bottles. I saw one +labelled: Nilos, river of AEgyptos; and others Holy Ganges, Phlegethon, +Jordan; I was almost afraid he had it, when I heard him mutter again, +"This is very tiresome," and presently he said, "We are out of it." +"Then," I said, "I wish you to tell me the way to those little +cottages in whose upper chambers poets look out upon the fields we +know not, for I wish to go into the Land of Dream and to sail once +more upon mighty, sea-like Yann." + +At that he moved heavily and slowly in way-worn carpet slippers, +panting as he went, to the back part of his shop, and I went with him. +This was a dingy lumber-room full of idols: the near end was dingy and +dark but at the far end was a blue caerulean glow in which stars seemed +to be shining and the heads of the idols glowed. "This," said the fat +old man in carpet slippers, "is the heaven of the gods who sleep." I +asked him what gods slept and he mentioned names that I had never +heard as well as names that I knew. "All those," he said, "that are +not worshipped now are asleep." + +"Then does Time not kill the gods?" I said to him and he answered, +"No. But for three or four thousand years a god is worshipped and for +three or four he sleeps. Only Time is wakeful always." + +"But they that teach us of new gods"--I said to him, "are they not +new?" + +"They hear the old ones stirring in their sleep being about to wake, +because the dawn is breaking and the priests crow. These are the +happy prophets: unhappy are they that hear some old god speak while he +sleeps still being deep in slumber, and prophesy and prophesy and no +dawn comes, they are those that men stone saying, 'Prophesy where this +stone shall hit you, and this.'" + +"Then shall Time never slay the gods," I said. And he answered, "They +shall die by the bedside of the last man. Then Time shall go mad in +his solitude and shall not know his hours from his centuries of years +and they shall clamour round him crying for recognition and he shall +lay his stricken hands on their heads and stare at them blindly and +say, 'My children, I do not know you one from another,' and at these +words of Time empty worlds shall reel." + +And for some while then I was silent, for my imagination went out into +those far years and looked back at me and mocked me because I was the +creature of a day. + +Suddenly I was aware by the old man's heavy breathing that he had gone +to sleep. It was not an ordinary shop: I feared lest one of his gods +should wake and call for him: I feared many things, it was so dark, +and one or two of those idols were something more than grotesque. I +shook the old man hard by one of his arms. + +"Tell me the way to the cottages," I said, "on the edge of the fields +we know." + +"I don't think we can do that," he said. + +"Then supply me," I said, "with the goods." + +That brought him to his senses. He said, "You go out by the back door +and turn to the right"; and he opened a little, old, dark door in the +wall through which I went, and he wheezed and shut the door. The back +of the shop was of incredible age. I saw in antique characters upon a +mouldering board, "Licensed to sell weasels and jade earrings." The +sun was setting now and shone on little golden spires that gleamed +along the roof which had long ago been thatched and with a wonderful +straw. I saw that the whole of Go-by Street had the same strange +appearance when looked at from behind. The pavement was the same as +the pavement of which I was weary and of which so many thousand miles +lay the other side of those houses, but the street was of most pure +untrampled grass with such marvellous flowers in it that they lured +downward from great heights the flocks of butterflies as they traveled +by, going I know not whence. The other side of the street there was +pavement again but no houses of any kind, and what there was in place +of them I did not stop to see, for I turned to my right and walked +along the back of Go-by Street till I came to the open fields and the +gardens of the cottages that I sought. Huge flowers went up out of +these gardens like slow rockets and burst into purple blooms and stood +there huge and radiant on six-foot stalks and softly sang strange +songs. Others came up beside them and bloomed and began singing too. +A very old witch came out of her cottage by the back door and into the +garden in which I stood. + +"What are these wonderful flowers?" I said to her. + +"Hush! Hush!" she said, "I am putting the poets to bed. These +flowers are their dreams." + +And in a lower voice I said: "What wonderful songs are they singing?" +and she said, "Be still and listen." + +And I listened and found they were singing of my own childhood and of +things that happened there so far away that I had quite forgotten them +till I heard the wonderful song. + +"Why is the song so faint?" I said to her. + +"Dead voices," she said, "Dead voices," and turned back again to her +cottage saying: "Dead voices" still, but softly for fear that she +should wake the poets. "They sleep so badly while they live," she +said. + +I stole on tiptoe upstairs to the little room from whose windows, +looking one way, we see the fields we know and, looking another, those +hilly lands that I sought--almost I feared not to find them. I looked +at once toward the mountains of faery; the afterglow of the sunset +flamed on them, their avalanches flashed on their violet slopes coming +down tremendous from emerald peaks of ice; and there was the old gap +in the blue-grey hills above the precipice of amethyst whence one sees +the Lands of Dream. + +All was still in the room where the poets slept when I came quietly +down. The old witch sat by a table with a lamp, knitting a splendid +cloak of gold and green for a king that had been dead a thousand +years. + +"Is it any use," I said, "to the king that is dead that you sit and +knit him a cloak of gold and green?" + +"Who knows?" she said. + +"What a silly question to ask," said her old black cat who lay curled +by the fluttering fire. + +Already the stars were shining on that romantic land when I closed the +witch's door; already the glow-worms were mounting guard for the night +around those magical cottages. I turned and trudged for the gap in +the blue-grey mountains. + +Already when I arrived some colour began to show in the amethyst +precipice below the gap although it was not yet morning. I heard a +rattling and sometimes caught a flash from those golden dragons far +away below me that are the triumph of the goldsmiths of Sirdoo and +were given life by the ritual incantations of the conjurer Amargrarn. +On the edge of the opposite cliff, too near I thought for safety, I +saw the ivory palace of Singanee that mighty elephant-hunter; small +lights appeared in windows, the slaves were awake, and beginning with +heavy eyelids the work of the day. + +And now a ray of sunlight topped the world. Others than I must +describe how it swept from the amethyst cliff the shadow of the black +one that opposed it, how that one shaft of sunlight pierced the +amethyst for leagues, and how the rejoicing colour leaped up to +welcome the light and shot back a purple glow on the walls of the +palace of ivory while down in that incredible ravine the golden +dragons still played in the darkness. + +At this moment a female slave came out by a door of the palace and +tossed a basket-full of sapphires over the edge. And when day was +manifest on those marvellous heights and the flare of the amethyst +precipice filled the abyss, then the elephant-hunter arose in his +ivory palace and took his terrific spear and going out by a landward +door went forth to avenge Perdondaris + +I turned then and looked upon the lands of Dream, and the thin white +mist that never rolls quite away was shifting in the morning. Rising +like isles above it I saw the Hills of Hap and the city of copper, +old, deserted Bethmoora, and Utnar Vehi and Kyph and Mandaroon and the +wandering leagues of Yann. Rather I guessed than saw the Hian Min +whose imperturbable and aged heads scarce recognize for more than +clustered mounds the round Acroctian hills, that are heaped about +their feet and that shelter, as I remembered, Durl and Duz. But most +clearly I discerned that ancient wood through which one going down to +the bank of Yann whenever the moon is old may come on _Bird of the +River_ anchored there, waiting three days for travellers, as has been +prophesied of her. And as it was now that season I hurried down from +the gap in the blue-grey hills by an elfin path that was coeval with +fable, and came by means of it to the edge of the wood. Black though +the darkness was in that ancient wood the beasts that moved in it were +blacker still. It is very seldom that any dreamer travelling in Lands +of Dream is ever seized by these beasts, and yet I ran; for if a man's +spirit is seized in the Lands of Dream his body may survive it for +many years and well know the beasts that mouthed him far away and the +look in their little eyes and the smell of their breath; that is why +the recreation field at Hanwell is so dreadfully trodden into restless +paths. + +And so I came at last to the sea-like flood of proud, tremendous Yann, +with whom there tumbled streams from incredible lands--with these he +went by singing. Singing he carried drift-wood and whole trees, +fallen in far-away, unvisited forests, and swept them mightily by, but +no sign was there either out in the river or in the olden anchorage +near by of the ship I came to see. + +And I built myself a hut and roofed it over with the huge abundant +leaves of a marvellous weed and ate the meat that grows on the +targar-tree and waited there three days. And all day long the river +tumbled by and all night long the tolulu-bird sang on and the huge +fireflies had no other care than to pour past in torrents of dancing +sparks, and nothing rippled the surface of the Yann by day and nothing +disturbed the tolulu-bird by night. I know not what I feared for the +ship I sought and its friendly captain who came from fair Belzoond and +its cheery sailors out of Durl and Duz; all day long I looked for it +on the river and listened for it by night until the dancing fireflies +danced me to sleep. Three times only in those three nights the +tolulu-bird was scared and stopped his song, and each time I awoke +with a start and found no ship and saw that he was only scared by the +dawn. Those indescribable dawns upon the Yann came up like flames in +some land over the hills where a magician burns by secret means +enormous amethysts in a copper pot. I used to watch them in wonder +while no bird sang--till all of a sudden the sun came over a hill and +every bird but one began to sing, and the tolulu-bird slept fast, till +out of an opening eye he saw the stars. + +I would have waited three more days, but on the third day I had gone +in my loneliness to see the very spot where first I met _Bird of the +River_ at her anchorage with her bearded captain sitting on the deck. +And as I looked at the black mud of the harbour and pictured in my +mind that band of sailors whom I had not seen for two years, I saw an +old hulk peeping from the mud. The lapse of centuries seemed partly +to have rotted and partly to have buried in the mud all but the prow +of the boat and on the prow I faintly saw a name. I read it slowly-- +it was _Bird of the River._ And then I knew that, while in Ireland and +London two years had barely passed over my head, ages had gone over +the region of Yann and wrecked and rotted that once familiar ship, and +buried years ago the bones of the youngest of my friends, who so often +sang to me of Durl and Duz or told the dragon-legends of Belzoond. +For beyond the world we know there roars a hurricane of centuries +whose echo only troubles--though sorely--our fields; while elsewhere +there is calm. I stayed a moment by that battered hulk and said a +prayer for whatever may be immortal of those who were wont to sail it +down the Yann, and I prayed for them to the gods to whom they loved to +pray, to the little lesser gods that bless Belzoond. Then leaving the +hut that I built to those ravenous years I turned my back to the Yann +and entering the forest at evening just as its orchids were opening +their petals to perfume the night came out of it in the morning, and +passed that day along the amethyst gulf by the gap in the blue-grey +mountains. I wondered if Singanee, that mighty elephant-hunter, had +returned again with his spear to his lofty ivory palace or if his doom +had been one with that of Perdondaris. I saw a merchant at a small +back door selling new sapphires as I passed the palace, then I went on +and came as twilight fell to those small cottages where the elfin +mountains are in sight of the fields we know. And I went to the old +witch that I had seen before and she sat in her parlour with a red +shawl round her shoulders still knitting the golden cloak, and faintly +through one of her windows the elfin mountains shone and I saw again +through another the fields we know. + +"Tell me something," I said, "of this strange land!" + +"How much do you know?" she said. "Do you know that dreams are +illusion?" + +"Of course I do," I said. "Every one knows that." + +"Oh no they don't," she said, "the mad don't know it." + +"That is true," I said. + +"And do you know," she said, "that Life is illusion?" + +"Of course it is not," I said. "Life is real, Life is earnest----." + +At that the witch and her cat (who had not moved from her old place by +the hearth) burst into laughter. I stayed some time, for there was +much that I wished to ask, but when I saw that the laughter would not +stop I turned and went away. + + + + +THE AVENGER OF PERDONDARIS + +I was rowing on the Thames not many days after my return from the Yann +and drifting eastwards with the fall of the tide away from Westminster +Bridge, near which I had hired my boat. All kinds of things were on +the water with me--sticks drifting, and huge boats--and I was +watching, so absorbed the traffic of that great river that I did not +notice I had come to the City until I looked up and saw that part of +the Embankment that is nearest to Go-by Street. And then I suddenly +wondered what befell Singanee, for there was a stillness about his +ivory palace when I passed it by, which made me think that he had not +then returned. And though I had seen him go forth with his terrific +spear, and mighty elephant-hunter though he was, yet his was a fearful +quest for I knew that it was none other than to avenge Perdondaris by +slaying that monster with the single tusk who had overthrown it +suddenly in a day. So I tied up my boat as soon as I came to some +steps, and landed and left the Embankment, and about the third street +I came to I began to look for the opening of Go-by Street; it is very +narrow, you hardly notice it at first, but there it was, and soon I +was in the old man's shop. But a young man leaned over the counter. +He had no information to give me about the old man--he was sufficient +in himself. As to the little old door in the back of the shop, "We +know nothing about that, sir." So I had to talk to him and humour +him. He had for sale on the counter an instrument for picking up a +lump of sugar in a new way. He was pleased when I looked at it and he +began to praise it. I asked him what was the use of it, and he said +that it was of no use but that it had only been invented a week ago +and was quite new and was made of real silver and was being very much +bought. But all the while I was straying towards the back of the +shop. When I enquired about the idols there he said that they were +some of the season's novelties and were a choice selection of mascots; +and while I made a pretence of selecting one I suddenly saw the +wonderful old door. I was through it at once and the young +shop-keeper after me. No one was more surprised than he when he saw +the street of grass and the purple flowers on it; he ran across in his +frock-coat on to the opposite pavement and only just stopped in time, +for the world ended there. Looking downward over the pavement's edge +he saw, instead of accustomed kitchen-windows, white clouds and a +wide, blue sky. I led him to the old back door of the shop, looking +pale and in need of air, and pushed him lightly and he went limply +through, for I thought the air was better for him on the side of the +street that he knew. As soon as the door was shut on that astonished +man I turned to the right and went along the street till I saw the +gardens and the cottages, and a little red patch moving in a garden, +which I knew to be the old witch wearing her shawl. + +"Come for a change of illusion again?" she said. + +"I have come from London," I said. "And I want to see Singanee. I +want to go to his ivory palace over the elfin mountains where the +amethyst precipice is." + +"Nothing like changing your illusions," she said, "or you grow tired. +London's a fine place but one wants to see the elfin mountains +sometimes." + +"Then you know London?" I said. + +"Of course I do," she said. "I can dream as well as you. You are not +the only person that can imagine London." Men were toiling dreadfully +in her garden; it was in the heat of the day and they were digging +with spades; she suddenly turned from me to beat one of them over the +back with a long black stick that she carried. "Even my poets go to +London sometimes," she said to me. + +"Why did you beat that man?" I said. + +"To make him work," she answered. + +"But he is tired," I said. + +"Of course he is," said she. + +And I looked and saw that the earth was difficult and dry and that +every spadeful that the tired men lifted was full of pearls; but some +men sat quite still and watched the butterflies that flitted about the +garden and the old witch did not beat them with her stick. And when I +asked her who the diggers were she said, "These are my poets, they are +digging for pearls." And when I asked her what so many pearls were +for she said to me: "To feed the pigs of course." + +"But do the pigs like pearls?" I said to her. + +"Of course they don't," she said. And I would have pressed the matter +further but the old black cat had come out of the cottage and was +looking at me whimsically and saying nothing so that I knew I was +asking silly questions. And I asked instead why some of the poets +were idle and were watching butterflies without being beaten. And she +said: "The butterflies know where the pearls are hidden and they are +waiting for one to alight above the buried treasure. They cannot dig +until they know where to dig." And all of a sudden a faun came out of +a rhododendron forest and began to dance upon a disk of bronze in +which a fountain was set; and the sound of his two hooves dancing on +the bronze was beautiful as bells. + +"Tea-bell," said the witch; and all the poets threw down their spades +and followed her into the house, and I followed them; but the witch +and all of us followed the black cat, who arched his back and lifted +his tail and walked along the garden-path of blue enamelled tiles and +through the black-thatched porch and the open, oaken door and into a +little room where tea was ready. And in the garden the flowers began +to sing and the fountain tinkled on the disk of bronze. And I learned +that the fountain came from an otherwise unknown sea, and sometimes it +threw gilded fragments up from the wrecks of unheard-of galleons, +foundered in storms of some sea that was nowhere in the world; or +battered to bits in wars waged with we know not whom. Some said that +it was salt because of the sea and others that it was salt with +mariners' tears. And some of the poets took large flowers out of +vases and threw their petals all about the room, and others talked two +at a time and other sang. "Why they are only children after all," I +said. + +"Only children!" repeated the old witch who was pouring out cowslip +wine. + +_"Only_ children," said the old black cat. And every one laughed at +me. + +"I sincerely apologize," I said. "I did not mean to say it. I did +not intend to insult any one." + +"Why he knows nothing at all," said the old black cat. And everybody +laughed till the poets were put to bed. + +And then I took one look at the fields we know, and turned to the +other window that looks on the elfin mountains. And the evening +looked like a sapphire. And I saw my way though the fields were +growing dim, and when I found it I went downstairs and through the +witch's parlour, and out of doors and came that night to the palace of +Singanee. + +Lights glittered through every crystal slab--and all were +uncurtained--in the palace of ivory. The sounds were those of a +triumphant dance. Very haunting indeed was the booming of a bassoon, +and like the dangerous advance of some galloping beast were the blows +wielded by a powerful man on the huge, sonourous drum. It seemed to +me as I listened that the contest of Singanee with the more than +elephantine destroyer of Perdondaris had already been set to music. +And as I walked in the dark along the amethyst precipice I suddenly +saw across it a curved white bridge. It was one ivory tusk. And I +knew it for the triumph of Singanee. I knew at once that this curved +mass of ivory that had been dragged by ropes to bridge the abyss was +the twin of the ivory gate that once Perdondaris had, and had itself +been the destruction of that once famous city--towers and walls and +people. Already men had begun to hollow it and to carve human figures +life-size along its sides. I walked across it; and half way across, +at the bottom of the curve, I met a few of the carvers fast asleep. On +the opposite cliff by the palace lay the thickest end of the tusk and +I came down a ladder which leaned against the tusk for they had not +yet carved steps. + +Outside the ivory palace it was as I had supposed and the sentry at +the gate slept heavily; and though I asked of him permission to enter +the palace he only muttered a blessing on Singanee and fell asleep +again. It was evident that he had been drinking bak. Inside the ivory +hall I met with servitors who told me that any stranger was welcome +there that night, because they extolled the triumph of Singanee. And +they offered me bak to drink to commemorate the splendour but I did +not know its power nor whether a little or much prevailed over a man +so I said that I was under an oath to a god to drink nothing +beautiful; and they asked me if he could not be appeased by a prayer, +and I said, "In nowise," and went towards the dance; and they +commiserated me and abused that god bitterly, thinking to please me +thereby, and then they fell to drinking bak to the glory of Singanee. +Outside the curtains that hung before the dance there stood a +chamberlain and when I told him that though a stranger there, yet I +was well known to Mung and Sish and Kib, the gods of Pegana, whose +signs I made, he bade me ample welcome. Therefore I questioned him +about my clothes asking if they were not unsuitable to so august an +occasion and he swore by the spear that had slain the destroyer of +Perdondaris that Singanee would think it a shameful thing that any +stranger not unknown to the gods should enter the dancing hall +unsuitably clad; and therefore he led me to another room and took +silken robes out of an old sea-chest of black and seamy oak with green +copper hasps that were set with a few pale sapphires, and requested me +to choose a suitable robe. And I chose a bright green robe, with an +under-robe of light blue which was seen here and there, and a light +blue sword-belt. I also wore a cloak that was dark purple with two +thin strips of dark-blue along the border and a row of large dark +sapphires sewn along the purple between them; it hung down from my +shoulders behind me. Nor would the chamberlain of Singanee let me +take any less than this, for he said that not even a stranger, on that +night, could be allowed to stand in the way of his master's +munificence which he was pleased to exercise in honour of his victory. +As soon as I was attired we went to the dancing hall and the first +thing that I saw in that tall, scintillant chamber was the huge form +of Singanee standing among the dancers and the heads of the men no +higher than his waist. Bare were the huge arms that had held the +spear that had avenged Perdondaris. The chamberlain led me to him and +I bowed, and said that I gave thanks to the gods to whom he looked for +protection; and he said that he had heard my gods well spoken of by +those accustomed to pray but this he said only of courtesy, for he +knew not whom they were. + +Singanee was simply dressed and only wore on his head a plain gold +band to keep his hair from falling over his forehead, the ends of the +gold were tied in the back with a bow of purple silk. But all his +queens wore crowns of great magnificence, though whether they were +crowned as the queens of Singanee or whether queens were attracted +there from the thrones of distant lands by the wonder of him and the +splendour I did not know. + +All there wore silken robes of brilliant colours and the feet of all +were bare and very shapely for the custom of boots was unknown in +those regions. And when they saw that my big toes were deformed in +the manner of Europeans, turning inwards towards the others instead of +being straight, one or two asked sympathetically if an accident had +befallen me. And rather than tell them truly that deforming out big +toes was our custom and our pleasure I told them that I was under the +curse of a malignant god at whose feet I had neglected to offer +berries in infancy. And to some extent I justified myself, for +Convention is a god though his ways are evil; and had I told them the +truth I would not have been understood. They gave me a lady to dance +with who was of marvellous beauty, she told me that her name was +Saranoora, a princess from the North, who had been sent as tribute to +the palace of Singanee. And partly she danced as Europeans dance and +partly as the fairies of the waste who lure, as legend has it, lost +travellers to their doom. And if I could get thirty heathen men out of +fantastic lands, with their long black hair and little elfin eyes and +instruments of music even unknown to Nebuchadnezzar the King; and if I +could make them play those tunes that I heard in the ivory palace on +some lawn, gentle reader, at evening near your house then you would +understand the beauty of Saranoora and the blaze of light and colour +in that stupendous hall and the lithesome movement of those mysterious +queens that danced round Singanee. Then gentle reader you would be +gentle no more but the thoughts that run like leopards over the far +free lands would come leaping into your head even were it London, yes, +even in London: you would rise up then and beat your hands on the wall +with its pretty pattern of flowers, in the hope that the bricks might +break and reveal the way to that palace of ivory by the amethyst gulf +where the golden dragons are. For there have been men who have burned +prisons down that the prisoners might escape, and even such +incendiaries those dark musicians are who dangerously burn down custom +that the pining thoughts may go free. Let your elders have no fear, +have no fear. I will not play those tunes in any streets we know. I +will not bring those strange musicians here, I will only whisper the +way to the Lands of Dream, and only a few frail feet shall find the +way, and I shall dream alone of the beauty of Saranoora and sometimes +sigh. We danced on and on at the will of the thirty musicians, but +when the stars were paling and the wind that knew the dawn was +ruffling up the edge of the skirts of night, then Saranoora the +princess of the North led me out into a garden. Dark groves of trees +were there which filled the night with perfume and guarded night's +mysteries from the arising dawn. There floated over us, wandering in +that garden, the triumphant melody of those dark musicians, whose +origin was unguessed even by those that dwelt there and knew the Lands +of Dream. For only a moment once sang the tolulu-bird, for the +festival of that night had scared him and he was silent. For only a +moment once we heard him singing in some far grove because the +musicians rested and our bare feet made no sound; for a moment we +heard that bird of which once our nightingale dreamed and handed on +the tradition to his children. And Saranoora told me that they have +named the bird the Sister of Song; but for the musicians, who +presently played again, she said they had no name, for no one knew who +they were or from what country. Then some one sang quite near us in +the darkness to an instrument of strings telling of Singanee and his +battle against the monster. And soon we saw him sitting on the ground +and singing to the night of that spear-thrust that had found the +thumping heart of the destroyer of Perdondaris; and we stopped awhile +and asked him who had seen so memorable a struggle and he answered +none but Singanee and he whose tusk had scattered Perdondaris, and now +the last was dead. And when we asked him if Singanee had told him of +the struggle he said that that proud hunter would say no word about it +and that therefore his mighty deed was given to the poets and become +their trust forever, and he struck again his instrument of strings and +sang on. + +When the strings of pearls that hung down from her neck began to gleam +all over Saranoora I knew that dawn was near and that that memorable +night was all but gone. And at last we left the garden and came to +the abyss to see the sunrise shine on the amethyst cliff. And at first +it lit up the beauty of Saranoora and then it topped the world and +blazed upon those cliffs of amethyst until it dazzled our eyes, and we +turned from it and saw the workman going out along the tusk to hollow +it and to carve a balustrade of fair professional figures. And those +who had drunken bak began to awake and to open their dazzled eyes at +the amethyst precipice and to rub them and turn them away. And now +those wonderful kingdoms of song that the dark musicians established +all night by magical chords dropped back again to the sway of that +ancient silence who ruled before the gods, and the musicians wrapped +their cloaks about them and covered up their marvellous instruments +and stole away to the plains; and no one dared ask them whither they +went or why they dwelt there, or what god they served. And the dance +stopped and all the queens departed. And then the female slave came +out again by a door and emptied her basket of sapphires down the abyss +as I saw her do before. Beautiful Saranoora said that those great +queens would never wear their sapphires more than once and that every +day at noon a merchant from the mountains sold new ones for that +evening. Yet I suspected that something more than extravagance lay at +the back of that seemingly wasteful act of tossing sapphires into an +abyss, for there were in the depths of it those two dragons of gold of +whom nothing seemed to be known. And I thought, and I think so still, +that Singanee, terrific though he was in war with the elephants, from +whose tusks he had built his palace, well knew and even feared those +dragons in the abyss, and perhaps valued those priceless jewels less +than he valued his queens, and that he to whom so many lands paid +beautiful tribute out of their dread of his spear, himself paid +tribute to the golden dragons. Whether those dragons had wings I could +not see; nor, if they had, could I tell if they could bear that weight +of solid gold from the abyss; nor by what paths they could crawl from +it did I know. And I know not what use to a golden dragon should +sapphires be or a queen. Only it seemed strange to me that so much +wealth of jewels should be thrown by command of a man who had nothing +to fear--to fall flashing and changing their colours at dawn into an +abyss. + +I do not know how long we lingered there watching the sunrise on those +miles of amethyst. And it is strange that that great and famous +wonder did not move me more than it did, but my mind was dazzled by +the fame of it and my eyes were actually dazzled by the blaze, and as +often happens I thought more of little things and remember watching +the daylight in the solitary sapphire that Saranoora had and that she +wore upon her finger in a ring. Then, the dawn wind being all about +her, she said that she was cold and turned back into the ivory palace. +And I feared that we might never meet again, for time moves +differently over the Lands of Dream than over the fields we know; like +ocean-currents going different ways and bearing drifting ships. And +at the doorway of the ivory palace I turned to say farewell and yet I +found no words that were suitable to say. And often now when I stand +in other lands I stop and think of many things to have said; yet all I +said was "Perhaps we shall meet again." And she said that it was +likely that we should often meet for that this was a little thing for +the gods to permit not knowing that the gods of the Lands of Dream +have little power upon the fields we know. Then she went in through +the doorway. And having exchanged for my own clothes again the raiment +that the chamberlain had given me I turned from the hospitality of +mighty Singanee and set my face towards the fields we know. I crossed +that enormous tusk that had been the end of Perdondaris and met the +artists carving it as I went; and some by way of greeting as I passed +extolled Singanee, and in answer I gave honour to his name. Daylight +had not yet penetrated wholly to the bottom of the abyss but the +darkness was giving place to a purple haze and I could faintly see one +golden dragon there. Then looking once towards the ivory palace, and +seeing no one at the windows, I turned sorrowfully away, and going by +the way that I knew passed through the gap in the mountains and down +their slopes till I came again in sight of the witch's cottage. And +as I went to the upper window to look for the fields we know, the +witch spoke to me; but I was cross, as one newly waked from sleep, and +I would not answer her. Then the cat questioned me as to whom I had +met, and I answered him that in the fields we know cats kept their +place and did not speak to man. And then I came downstairs and walked +straight out of the door, heading for Go-by Street. "You are going +the wrong way," the witch called through the window; and indeed I had +no sooner gone back to the ivory palace again, but I had no right to +trespass any further on the hospitality of Singanee and one cannot +stay always in the Lands of Dream, and what knowledge had that old +witch of the call of the fields we know or the little though many +snares that bind our feet therein? So I paid no heed to her, but kept +on, and came to Go-by Street. I saw the house with the green door +some way up the street but thinking that the near end of the street +was closer to the Embankment where I had left my boat I tried the +first door I came to, a cottage thatched like the rest, with little +golden spires along the roof-ridge, and strange birds sitting there +and preening marvellous feathers. The door opened, and to my surprise +I found myself in what seemed like a shepherd's cottage; a man who was +sitting on a log of wood in a little low dark room said something to +me in an alien language. I muttered something and hurried through to +the street. The house was thatched in front as well as behind. There +were not golden spires in front, no marvellous birds; but there was no +pavement. There was a row of houses, byres, and barns but no other +sign of a town. Far off I saw one or two little villages. Yet there +was the river--and no doubt the Thames, for it was the width of the +Thames and had the curves of it, if you can imagine the Thames in that +particular spot without a city around it, without any bridges, and the +Embankment fallen in. I saw that there had happened to me permanently +and in the light of day some such thing as happens to a man, but to a +child more often, when he awakes before morning in some strange room +and sees a high, grey window where the door ought to be and unfamiliar +objects in wrong places and though knowing where he is yet knows not +how it can be that the place should look like that. + +A flock of sheep came by me presently looking the same as ever, but +the man who led them had a wild, strange look. I spoke to him and he +did not understand me. Then I went down to the river to see if my +boat was there and at the very spot where I had left it, in the mud +(for the tide was low) I saw a half-buried piece of blackened wood +that might have been part of a boat, but I could not tell. I began to +feel that I had missed the world. It would be a strange thing to +travel from far away to see London and not be able to find it among +all the roads that lead there, but I seemed to have travelled in Time +and to have missed it among the centuries. And when as I wandered +over the grassy hills I came on a wattled shrine that was thatched +with straw and saw a lion in it more worn with time than even the +Sphinx at Gizeh and when I knew it for one of the four in Trafalgar +Square then I saw that I was stranded far away in the future with many +centuries of treacherous years between me and anything that I had +known. And then I sat on the grass by the worn paws of the lion to +think out what to do. And I decided to go back through Go-by Street +and, since there was nothing left to keep me any more to the fields we +know, to offer myself as a servant in the palace of Singanee, and to +see again the face of Saranoora and those famous, wonderful, +amethystine dawns upon the abyss where the golden dragons play. And I +stayed no longer to look for remains of the ruins of London; for there +is little pleasure in seeing wonderful things if there is no one at +all to hear of them and to wonder. So I returned at once to Go-by +Street, the little row of huts, and saw no other record that London +had been except that one stone lion. I went to the right house this +time. It was very much altered and more like one of those huts that +one sees on Salisbury plain than a shop in the city of London, but I +found it by counting the houses in the street for it was still a row +of houses though pavement and city were gone. And it was still a shop. +A very different shop to the one I knew, but things were for sale +there--shepherd's crooks, food, and rude axes. And a man with long +hair was there who was clad in skins. I did not speak to him for I did +not know his language. He said to me something that sounded like +"Everkike." It conveyed no meaning to me; but when he looked towards +one of his buns, light suddenly dawned in my mind, and I knew that +England was even England still and that still she was not conquered, +and that though they had tired of London they still held to their +land; for the words that the man had said were, "Av er kike," and then +I knew that that very language that was carried to distant lands by +the old, triumphant cockney was spoken still in his birthplace and +that neither his politics nor his enemies had destroyed him after all +these thousand years. I had always disliked the Cockney dialect--and +with the arrogance of the Irishman who hears from rich and poor the +English of the splendour of Elizabeth; and yet when I heard those +words my eyes felt sore as with impending tears--it should be +remembered how far away I was. I think I was silent for a little +while. Suddenly I saw that the man who kept the shop was asleep. +That habit was strangely like the ways of a man who if he were then +alive would be (if I could judge from the time-worn look of the lion) +over a thousand years old. But then how old was I? It is perfectly +clear that Time moves over the Lands of Dream swifter or slower than +over the fields we know. For the dead, and the long dead, live again +in our dreams; and a dreamer passes through the events of days in a +single moment of the Town-Hall's clock. Yet logic did not aid me and +my mind was puzzled. While the old man slept--and strangely like in +face he was to the old man who had shown me first the little, old +backdoor--I went to the far end of his wattled shop. There was a door +of a sort on leather hinges. I pushed it open and there I was again +under the notice-board at the back of the shop, at least the back of +Go-by Street had not changed. Fantastic and remote though this grass +street was with its purple flowers and the golden spires, and the +world ending at its opposite pavement, yet I breathed more happily to +see something again that I had seen before. I thought I had lost +forever the world I knew, and now that I was at the back of Go-by +Street again I felt the loss less than when I was standing where +familiar things ought to be; and I turned my mind to what was left me +in the vast Lands of Dream and thought of Saranoora. And when I saw +the cottages again I felt less lonely even at the thought of the cat +though he generally laughed at the things I said. And the first thing +that I saw when I saw the witch was that I had lost the world and was +going back for the rest of my days to the palace of Singanee. And the +first thing that she said was: "Why! You've been through the wrong +door," quite kindly for she saw how unhappy I looked. And I said, +"Yes, but it's all the same street. The whole street's altered and +London's gone and the people I used to know and the houses I used to +rest in, and everything; and I'm tired." + +"What did you want to go through the wrong door for?" she said. + +"O, that made no difference," I said. + +"O, didn't it?" she said in a contradictory way. + +"Well I wanted to get to the near end of the street so as to find my +boat quickly by the Embankment. And now my boat, and the Embankment +and--and----." + +"Some people are always in such a hurry," said the old black cat. And +I felt too unhappy to be angry and I said nothing more. + +And the old witch said, "Now which way do you want to go?" and she was +talking rather like a nurse to a small child. And I said, "I have +nowhere to go." + +And she said, "Would you rather go home or go to the ivory palace of +Singanee." And I said, "I've got a headache, and I don't want to go +anywhere, and I'm tired of the Lands of Dream." + +"Then suppose you try going in through the right door," she said. + +"That's no good," I said. "Everyone's dead and gone, and they're +selling buns there." + +"What do you know about Time?" she said. + +"Nothing," answered the old, black cat, though nobody spoke to him. + +"Run along," said the old witch. + +So I turned and trudged away to Go-by Street again. I was very tired. +"What does he know about anything?" said the old black cat behind me. +I knew what he was going to say next. He waited a moment and then +said, "Nothing." When I looked over my shoulder he was strutting back +to the cottage. And when I got to Go-by Street I listlessly opened +the door through which I had just now come. I saw no use in doing it, +I just did wearily as I was told. And the moment I got inside I saw +it was just the same as of old, and the sleepy old man was there who +sold idols. And I bought a vulgar thing that I did not want, for the +sheer joy of seeing accustomed things. And when I turned from Go-by +Street which was just the same as ever, the first thing that I saw was +a taximeter running into a hansom cab. And I took off my hat and +cheered. And I went to the Embankment and there was my boat, and the +stately river full of dirty, accustomed things. And I rowed back and +bought a penny paper, (I had been away it seemed for one day) and I +read it from cover to cover--patent remedies for incurable illnesses +and all--and I determined to walk, as soon as I was rested, in all the +streets that I knew and to call on all the people that I had ever met, +and to be content for long with the fields we know. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Tales of Three Hemispheres, by Lord Dunsany + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF THREE HEMISPHERES *** + +***** This file should be named 11440.txt or 11440.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/4/4/11440/ + +Produced by Tom Harris, text provided by Litrix Reading Room. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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